I am a Registered LLC. Residential Construction Sub Contractor in the State of Florida. I also have current General Liability Insurance. I entered an agreement with a relative of a very good customer of mine to do a remodel. My intent when I wrote the agreement was to Have a Licensed General Contractor that I know generate a Formal Contract, Take the job over, Pull Permits where required, and I would Sub Contract the scope of work that was in legal bounds for my LLC. from the Licensed GC. My customer did not want to incur the costs of bringing a Licensed GC in, nor did the customer want to pay the cost of Permits. I made a very bad decision based on this individual being related too a very good customer of mine, and entered agreement to do the job myself, without Permits. After receiving a Deposit, and Second Draw, I spent the following 7 months remodeling this customers Condo while the customer added numerous extras, several change orders and was the source of several distractions resulting in additional time. 3 days before completion of the entire job, I emailed him a change order invoice for $3500.00 with resuming work being conditional upon his payment of the Invoice for just a few of many Change Orders and Extras he had requested verbally, and Approved verbally via phone from Virginia prior to permanently relocating to Florida. He refused payment of the invoice and stated that he had not authorized ANY Change Orders, or Extras, and had no paperwork indicating such, he also informed that because I was not a Licensed Contractor that legally, he did not have to pay me, and I had no recourse. At the time of the dispute, their was roughly $1500 in work remaining which I could have completed in 3 days. Upon completion, his final invoice would have been roughly $16,000.00 plus the $3500.00 he refused to pay. I informed him that In the event, I wasn't paid up to the current phase of completion within 5 days, I would turn over documentation to the presiding Building Department that would result in a Stop Work Order for No Permits, which in turn would likely require him to vacate until the Stop Work Order were resolved, with the possibility of being fined daily, then having to hire a Licensed GC to pull retro Permits at 5x the original Fee, and very likely requiring destructive exploratory Demo to evaluate compliance, with all being at his expense. So regardless of what penalties came my way for not being properly licensed, he would incur costs that would be substantial, easily amounting in 10s of thousands of dollars. He immediately had an Attorney send me a Form Letter, NOT a Complaint, stating that their client denies approval of any extras, or Change Orders, That I represented myself as a Licensed Contractor, That he had no idea regarding Permits, That he incurred $4000.00 in hotel bills, rental car bills, and storage bills, because I failed to meet the projected completion date, That i was in Breach due to the projected completion date, All of which are lies that I can easily disprove via documentation I have in my possession. I responded to the Attorneys Form Letter truthfully and accurately, without incriminating myself, but also letting them know, I had documentation to disprove their clients false claims, and was only looking to be compensated fairly for work performed, no more, no less. I also stated that their client clearly received an impeccable remodel, was not claiming, any damages for shoddy workmanship, defects, or anything related to Quality of Workmanship, or Materials, his $4000.00 in expenses were incurred during a month long stay in Florida he made by choice, knowing his condo would not be completed, and while his primary residence in Virginia was undisturbed, and available to him the entire time he was in Florida. In closing I let the Attorneys know that their clients refusal to pay the change order invoice, and the timing of the refusal of payment to nearly any Judge, or Attorney would be interpreted as a textbook example of customer whos intent is, and has been non payment of the final balance due. It has been 8 days, and I have not heard back from the Law Firm......Where is this Going ???? A lot of details, but in my mind this is a very complex case.