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| Laurie Murphy |
The Court of Appeals just held that an arbitration award which favored an unlicensed contractor which award was entered as a judgment by the trial court must be set aside. Grounds for setting aside an arbitration award are very limited in California. One of the grounds is that the award violates the public policy of the State.
In Ahdout v. Hekmatjah, the court found that the arbitrator's award which awarded damages to an unlicensed contractor violated the public policy of the state under the Contractor's State Licensing Law which holds, in part, that parties who use the services of an unlicensed contractor are entitled to reimbursement for any compensation paid while the person was unlicensed and are also shielded from liability for claims by the unlicensed person for compensation. This case reinforces prior court decisions that hold, in essence, that no matter how unfair it would be to deny compensation to someone who is unlicensed who did construction work on a project, that is the law in this state.
Anyone who does construction work without a license is well advised to get a license or risk the very serious consequences of not having one. By the same token, anyone who hires someone without a license has carte blanche to refuse to pay for the work.
Contact Laurie Murphy
In Ahdout v. Hekmatjah, the court found that the arbitrator's award which awarded damages to an unlicensed contractor violated the public policy of the state under the Contractor's State Licensing Law which holds, in part, that parties who use the services of an unlicensed contractor are entitled to reimbursement for any compensation paid while the person was unlicensed and are also shielded from liability for claims by the unlicensed person for compensation. This case reinforces prior court decisions that hold, in essence, that no matter how unfair it would be to deny compensation to someone who is unlicensed who did construction work on a project, that is the law in this state.
Anyone who does construction work without a license is well advised to get a license or risk the very serious consequences of not having one. By the same token, anyone who hires someone without a license has carte blanche to refuse to pay for the work.
Contact Laurie Murphy
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