My brother is purchasing a house from his father in law and wanted a concrete walkway and steps. My boyfriend said he would do it for him.my brother paid him about 1,000 plus a few hundred for some friends to help. The father in law approved everything and was the one who paid him. Now my brothers father in law has an issue. He still owes my boyfriend $700 and says he isn't paying because they don't meet code and wants his contractors license number. My boyfriend was just trying to help out my bro. Can he be sued or fined? Also there is no codes or permits required for what he did.

Hi Raych

You said that the father-in-law said the concrete walkway didn't meet code, so, to me, this strongly suggests that there are code requirements, inspections and contractors' licensing requirements for the job.

Make a quick call over to your local building department tomorrow and just ask if there are code requirements, etc. if there are requirements and the job doesn't meet the accepted standard then your boyfriend and friends have a problem on their hands... Ugh!

Good luck

Mark

I had to get a permit, and have an inspection (twice, once when footings were ready and once when finished. To do my sidewalk to my house outside of Atlanta.

This is one of the grey areas, since it is done by family (boyfriend falls into that term) he may not have had to get a license. But if a permit was required he would have needed permits and inspections. * which is both owner and workers duties.

In fact the city may require the owner to take the sidewalk out, if done without permits. ** there are normally requirements for footing size, thickness and type of concrete and so on.

As far as suing for the money, he can do so in small claims court. If the sidewalk was indeed done improper, then the home owner can countersue for the money to redo the work to code.

My boyfriend had two union concrete guys work with him. It is totally up to any code. My boyfriend also took pics of every part of the install. The father in law is just a . Its not a sidewalk. Its steps leading up to the house from the drive way. All on private property. The slab is behind the house. We live in CA and I know the contractor licensing requirements are steep. Can the father in law report him to the licensing board? He paid my boyfriend but 1099 it. My boyfriend was under the impression he was working for him (the home owner) now all of a sudden he wants his contractors license number. My boyfriend and the father in law don't see eye to eye. Long story. Also is there anyway to get payment from him?

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Originally Posted by Raychmcclain

My boyfriend had two union concrete guys work with him. It is totally up to any code. My boyfriend also took pics of every part of the install. The father in law is just a . Its not a sidewalk. Its steps leading up to the house from the drive way. All on private property. The slab is behind the house. We live in CA and I know the contractor licensing requirements are steep. Can the father in law report him to the licensing board? He paid my boyfriend but 1099 it. My boyfriend was under the impression he was working for him (the home owner) now all of a sudden he wants his contractors license number. My boyfriend and the father in law don't see eye to eye. Long story. Also is there anyway to get payment from him?

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Originally Posted by Fr_Chuck

I had to get a permit, and have an inspection (twice, once when footingsI were ready and once when finished. To do my sidewalk to my house outside of Atlanta.

This is one of the grey areas, since it is done by family (boyfriend falls into that term) he may not have had to get a license. But if a permit was required he would have needed permits and inspections. * which is both owner and workers duties.

In fact the city may require the owner to take the sidewalk out, if done without permits. ** there are normally requirements for footing size, thickness and type of concrete and so on.

As far as suing for the money, he can do so in small claims court. If the sidewalk was indeed done improper, then the home owner can countersue for the money to redo the work to code.

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As was mentioned. Small claims court. Winning the case is the easy part. Collecting that money afterwards...that's the hard part.

[Wait I'm confused. My boyfriend can take him to court or he can take my boyfriend? Could they say since he did work without a license he's not entitled to money? Or is it exempt cause he was working directly for the home owner?

Both... anyone can sue almost anyone over almost anything... winning however is a different thing.

Yes, your boyfriend can take him to court for non payment. He will have to prove there was a contract (verbal I assume) and that the work was completed. (correctly)

The Father in law can also sue the boyfriend if (indeed) the work was not done properly, without a license, and not up to code. If the work can be proved to not be properly done,

Your boyfriend doesn't have as much to worry about with as the FIL does. Unless the FIL can show a written contract, he's the one who was supposed to get a permit. Your bf can argue that he was working for the FIL (and the FIL can argue otherwise). But if there really are code violations, your bf might was well kiss the $700 goodbye, because the expense of ripping out the job and doing it to code will cost more than that.
Cases like this end up in small claims a lot. There are no specific laws that cover what a judge will rule when there is nothing in writing.

The 1099 is the icing on the cake of being mean. Your bf has to pay taxes on it by next April. It takes the IRS about 2 years to catch up to unreported 1099s, and they add on steep penalties and interest.

Your brother should work this out with his FIL. Not fair that they have this weird real estate transaction. Who demands a job like this before buying a house instead of after? It's not even vital, like a furnace.