What You Need To Know About Lawsuits?

1st of all: It is ILLEGAL to enter into a property improvement contract (over $500 in total) with an "UNLICENSED" individual (handyman or any other person that is NOT a contractor). $500 means the sum total of all work performed, per customer. It is also illegal to break up larger amounts into separate smaller invoices to avoid the $500 limit. If you hire unlicensed individuals, you loose many of the legal remedies that are normally available with legitimately licensed contractors that are regulated by the Contractors State License Board.

That basically means that if an unlicensed individual takes your money & runs, performs substandard work, steals, cheats, lies, misleads you, etc., then "you're on your own" & will have to pursue them civilly, in a court of law (at your very costly expense)!

Also, of CRITICAL IMPORTANCE is that unlicensed individuals generally do NOT carry Worker's Compensation Insurance! If one of their workers gets hurt on your property, under CA State Law, you COULD BECOME LIABLE for their injuries & all their future financial income losses (medical, lost wages, pain & suffering, future medical, etc.)!!

Many people have suffered severe financial losses from NOT being aware of mandated Worker's Compensation Laws regarding onsite workplace injuries. If someone is hurt on your property & it is NOT covered by your property insurance policy & the individual or company you hired does NOT really have Worker's Compensation Insurance, be prepared for a LEGAL NIGHTMARE! Whether the injury is truthful or fraudulent, YOUR PROPERTY BECOMES THE INSURANCE POLICY FOR ONSITE WORKER INJURIES! (By the way, legal resident status is irrelevant to their claim against your property!)

2nd: People think that they are protected by their ability to SUE a contractor IF they fail to perform their contract. This is legally true (but frequently impractical). The general lawyer consensus is that the courts are full of contractor defect lawsuits (at least those of significant monetary value). These cases cost loads of money & can generally drag on for years. Unfortunately, most property owners that get burned by bad contractors don't have enough of a sizeable loss to justify the costs of a lawsuit (pre-paying costly lawyers, court costs, expert witnesses, etc.). Many attorneys advised their client's to chalk it up to a lesson learned, because it's not worth the stress & aggravation of chasing bad money (that is probably lost anyway).

3rd: Even if you successfully win in court (not always the case), you now have to find a way to collect from the contractor. That is, after all the appeals, additional money & time & stress & "IF" the contractor doesn't declare bankruptcy! You MAY (or more frequently, MAY NOT) get some or all of your money back (but never your lost time, stress & life back!). You would think that the legal system would be easier to deal with, but it is NOT! Once you've gone through this difficult experience, you'll probably never want to wind up in court again.

Anyway, there is a lot more to say about this subject, but this should generally give you the idea. It is of CRITICAL IMPORTANCE to hire the right "legal" contractor (in good standing, with worker's compensation insurance, ETC.) for the type of work you want done. And, if you're not fully knowledgeable about ways to cheat &/or cut corners (especially with onsite construction!), you had better make sure you hire a highly knowledgeable roofing consultant (to watch your back!). If all that is too complicated & you just want your roof repaired by someone that you can TRUST, call us! We've been in the business of fixing leaky roofs for over 30 years & have an impeccable record! You can TRUST AMERICAN ROOFMASTERS to have the correct insurances, work ethics, repair materials & repair methods to properly repair your rooftop assembly!

Call AMERICAN ROOFMASTERS! We will properly assess your rooftop assembly needs & provide you with HONEST, ACCURATE INFORMATION & a free quote!