When Handyman is Required to Have Contractor’s License

Question: We own a rental home in Chandler. We recently received a notice from the HOA that our rental home needed to be re-painted. When we contacted our next-door neighbor to see if the HOA had ordered him to re-paint his home, our next-door neighbor said that he had received the same notice. He also said that for $4,000 he would paint our rental home just like his home to comply with the HOA notice. After we paid him $4,000, and he did the painting of our rental home, the HOA said that there was never an approval for the paint color for our rental home. In other words, we are now required to re-paint our rental home again. Can we get the $4,000 back from our next-door neighbor who said that he just hired a “couple guys” to re-paint our rental home?

Answer: Probably. Although a “handyman” can do some minor repair work such as touch-up painting without a contractor’s license, this handyman exception is for minimal repair work of less than $1,000. A.R.S. § 32-1121. Therefore, you should be able to file a complaint against your next-door neighbor with the Arizona Registrar of Contractors, and also a complaint in Justice Court for a judgment of the $4,000 that you paid to your next-door neighbor.