[Jake2008]

We had hired a handyman, for cash, starting in 2001. He did small jobs, and we paid him always in cash.

In 2005, and in 2006, we also hired him to do odd jobs, and again, he was paid in cash.

He quit his job as an electrician, and started up a company. We hired his new company to do a renovation on our kitchen. This was done 'above board' with invoices, receipts etc. and was paid in full.

On December 8th, we received an invoice for over $2500.00 he says he is owed for cash work (before the company) going back to April of 2005! And he charged GST and PST on the cash work listed in the invoice.

From April of 2005, until December 8th, 2008, for both the cash work, and the company work, there was never any mention of any money outstanding. We believe we paid him in full. He has listed payments made in cash on the invoice, however, they are not all there.

He has been threatening to take us to court, and has made 3 phone calls, all unpleasant. Incidentally, he dated the invoice for June/08, although it was not given to us until Monday of this week.

I realize that surely it must be illegal to 'bill' somebody for work done, and paid for, in cash. What sort of statute of limitation exists for billing somebody for work done so long ago, and because he created a 'faux' invoice to make it look official, can he take us to court? Is this not also illegal?

Any and all suggestions would greatly relieve our stress over this. Thank you.

[JudyKayTee]

We had hired a handyman, for cash, starting in 2001. He did small jobs, and we paid him always in cash.

In 2005, and in 2006, we also hired him to do odd jobs, and again, he was paid in cash.

He quit his job as an electrician, and started up a company. We hired his new company to do a renovation on our kitchen. This was done 'above board' with invoices, receipts etc., and was paid in full.

On December 8th, we received an invoice for over $2500.00 he says he is owed for cash work (before the company) going back to April of 2005! And he charged GST and PST on the cash work listed in the invoice.

From April of 2005, until December 8th, 2008, for both the cash work, and the company work, there was never any mention of any money outstanding. We believe we paid him in full. He has listed payments made in cash on the invoice, however, they are not all there.

He has been threatening to take us to court, and has made 3 phone calls, all unpleasant. Incidentally, he dated the invoice for June/08, although it was not given to us until Monday of this week.

I realize that surely it must be illegal to 'bill' somebody for work done, and paid for, in cash. What sort of statute of limitation exists for billing somebody for work done so long ago, and because he created a 'faux' invoice to make it look official, can he take us to court? Is this not also illegal?

Any and all suggestions would greatly relieve our stress over this. Thank you.

I see problems in all directions here - was the various money you paid him in cash reported to the IRS? You have no way of knowing whether he reported it as income, of course. I have no idea if he's right or wrong but my Accountant sends year end statements (1099's) to anyone who does more than $1,600 work for cash in my home during a calendar year. He explained that it's to keep me from getting fined and also is required by the workers comp portion of my homeowners insurance. I don't surprise anyone and tell them when they do the work but I also get written bills and receipts for all work that is done.

I don't hire "under the table." I've investigated too many accidents where the homeowner has serious problems because of an injury and a "cash" job.

Certainly it's "illegal" to bill someone twice. The Statute concerning debts is usually in the three to six year range. Is he saying he never billed you before or he billed you one time in June and you didn't pay?

If he takes you to Court - undoubtedly Small Claims - you will argue he's already paid, in cash; he will (undoubtedly) argue he was never paid and he billed you last June. The Court will make some sense out of things, listen to both sides and make a determination.

Your proof will be the various bills/invoices over the years and his will be the bill which he claims he generated in June and any records he claims he maintained.

In the meantime I would advise him to stop calling you and then hang up when he does. If he's going to sue, he's going to sue and your choices are either pay him or ride this through. And if you don't owe him, I wouldn't pay him.

[Jake2008]

Thank you for replying.

No, none of the money was ever reported for any of the cash work done from 2001 until 2006. There were never any bills or receipts exchanged. We just took his word for it.

The only income from us that he reported would have been for the invoiced work when he changed from 'under the table handyman', to a businessman/contractor. You're right for this invoice of June/08, that that would have been the second time we were billed for the same work. The first time being cash. (but there was not ever a bill)

He never billed us in June for this cash work. He dated the invoice for June, but December 8th is when he delivered the bill. I emailed him immediately with essentially the information contained here. We just don't owe it. Why this invoice is dated for June, I have no clue, but we'd never, ever received an invoice for any of the cash work done, it was strickly cash, and paid immediately. His last cash job started in April/05, and our last payment to him for the work he did, was August/06, when the work finished.

None of the cash work was done for his construction company, although this bill from his company claims it was. It is the only bill ever received for cash work.

I should note that I'm in Canada. Also to note is that from April/07 to April/08, under his new company, he did a reno on our kitchen. It was a nightmare getting the job done. It is a small kitchen, and he showed up when he felt like it, and did less and less work. Anyway, it shouldn't take over a year to renovate a kitchen. Build a house maybe, but one small kitchen?

I think when he realized that he wasn't going to be coming back here to do other work, this is a 'sour grapes' sort of situation. I'm not sure, but whatever his reason for billing for cash work done so long ago, is just not honest, and it is not true. During the year + that he was in the kitchen, in fact since the last of the cash work was done in Aug/06, right up to the date he delivered this invoice, there was never any mention of any outstanding money owed.

We cannot prove what we paid in cash, and his invoice does not reflect all the payments that were made, thus the 'bill'. What would stop him from sending us another bill for cash work not paid, or another invoice for the kitchen.

He has taken to blocking his number before he calls. This makes it difficult because my daughter is in hospital, and that number also comes up blocked. He also claims he did not get my email, so I copied it and sent it to him registered mail. He also claims we had a 'contract' for him to return in the fall for more work which was in an email sent to him. I also sent him a copy of the email he was referring to which simply and only states that we were going to pay down some of the kitchen debt before taking on more projects.

I have since done a lot of the work myself.

In the registered mail I sent him, I also included a cover which asks him not to call or contact me in any way. I also noted that if he pursued his threats to take us to court, I would ask for assistance from the available Consumer Protection Office here in Ontario, as well as contact all the professional dues-paying organizations he has listed on his invoice for assistance in putting a stop to this nonsense.

Insight much appreciated.

[JudyKayTee]

Didn't realize you're in Canada - I'd only be guessing.

My "guess" would be it will be Small Claims, your word against his. Why he's doing this is anybody's guess.

Sounds like a nightmare.

Hopefully somebody familiar with Canadian law will come along.

[Fr_Chuck]

If the judge believes his side of the story, he may well win, Another reason not to hire people for "cash" without reciepts.

So you may wish to check with a local attorney, he can do this, he is cheating, lying and doing it illegal, but that does not mean he can't win.

[Jake2008]

I have never in my life experienced something like this. It took some time for it all to sink in, and then when I finally started figuring it out, I became one of those people who should have known better. I know I've told others not to do what I did... :o

It will be impossible for him to prove that of all the cash jobs done and paid for, that we still owe him more. I think that is evidenced by this going back to 2005, without a word of anything outstanding until this past Monday. Going on 4 years now. It's just crazy and very upsetting.

I will follow the advice of just letting things sit for now. Not much I can do should he decide to take us to court, except tell the truth. I may, if it comes to that, speak to my lawyer and see if he has any advice.

Thank you so much to all who responded. This is a really great website, I was here a few years ago, and glad I found my way back again. I'll go through the various threads and see if I too can offer some help somewhere along the line.

Thanks again.

[Jake2008]

I finally talked to someone at the Attorney General's Office, who directed me to the legal forms online on the Government website. There is a two year statute of limitations to file a small claims action of two years for cases like mine. I hope that this is the end of it. I will never contract anything ever again, for cash or otherwise, without a written contract. What a fool I was. Thanks for all the input.

[JudyKayTee]

I finally talked to someone at the Attorney General's Office, who directed me to the legal forms online on the Government website. There is a two year statute of limitations to file a small claims action of two years for cases like mine. I hope that this is the end of it. I will never contract anything ever again, for cash or otherwise, without a written contract. What a fool I was. Thanks for all the input.

Don't be hard on yourself - you're never a fool if you learn something and what you've posted is undoubtedly going to make someone else think twice.

[Premier666]

I would not pay. I am a Contractor and it sounds like he had a great thing going on with you and then... no more work. Maybe he is broke and thought that he could get some more cash out of you. His word against yours. You sound honest. Again, I would not pay him. Get a lawyer and the next time he calls you, have him call your lawyer instead.

[JudyKayTee]

I would not pay. I am a Contractor and it sounds like he had a great thing going on with you and then...no more work. Maybe he is broke and thought that he could get some more cash out of you. His word against yours. You sound honest. Again, I would not pay him. Get a lawyer and the next time he calls you, have him call your lawyer instead.

He did consult with an Attorney. There's a 2 year Statute.

[Jake2008]

Premier666, where are you! Lol Honest people in this business seem so hard to come by.

I didn't consult an attorney, next best thing, the Attorney General's Office who kindly pointted me to the correct information. It was a huge relief to know there is a 2 year limit on filing a claim against someone. I knew there had to be something. Otherwise, people would be sued ad nauseum for work done years and years ago.

One of the things that bother me the most is how this turned out. In the beginning he was a different person. Worked hard, trustworthy, honest. We had no question or any feeling that things could possibly have turned out like they did. I am usually a very good judge of character, but something changed. I will probably never know.

In the meantime, I've learned a lot, and will take the advice that should he call again, I'll visit my lawyer and bring him up to speed.

Thanks for all the kind advice and words of wisdom.

[Jake2008]

Just a little update to this. :)

I was discussing this with my sister, and she said, "Are you sure he hasn't put a lien on your property?"

So this is another chapter.

In order for a lien to be put on my property, does he not have to provide proof, or a winning judgment or something? Can somebody just put a lien on your property and you are not informed until you sell your home, and get a nice surprise?

With a house I bought once, before the keys changed hands, our lawyer informed us that there were liens on the house by the plumbers and electricians, because they had not been paid. Lucky that was all solved before we signed the final papers.

Otherwise, nothing has happened since I sent the registered letter to him advising him that I wouldn't pay, and why, and included the statute of limitations information.

Any clues on how liens work? Please pass em' on. Thanks.

[Justice Matters]

JudyKayTee has asked us to give you our two cents on your situation.

Under Ontario's Construction Lien Act a contractor may register a construction lien against a property in order to secure payment of an outstanding invoice. The time frame to register the lien is very short (somewhere in the neighbourhood of 90 days or less from when work was completed or stopped).

If the lien is subsequently perfected the matter proceeds to a court hearing to determine if the lien should be lifted or not. The whole process is a "shoot first and ask questions later" type of affair.

If a proceeding had been commenced under the Construction Lien Act you should have been served with court papers just like with any other legal proceeding.

The only other way the contractor could encumber your property is by filing a writ of seizure and sale of lands. However, unlike a construction lien, a writ can only be filed AFTER the contractor obtains a judgment against you (ie. In the Small Claims Court). Again, if such a proceeding had been commenced you should have been served with court papers.

Without getting into specifics there are instances where a claimant has been able to get away without properly serving documents on another party. Consequently, if you wish to be sure that your property has not been encumbered you can obtain a title abstract for your property by visiting your local Land Registry Office or utilizing one of the online services. You may also wish to call or visit your local courthouse to see if any legal proceedings have been commenced against you (you may need to check with both the Small Claims Court and the Superior Court of Justice).

[Jake2008]

Thank you SO much for that information. I haven't heard a word since December, and it has been bothering me off and on for a long time.

I was actually afraid to check... :o

I am going to add that information to the file I have on the whole reno fiasco, and no doubt some day, others may benefit from that information too.

You have really, truly set my mind at ease, and I thank you.



Judy, you rock girl!