Court of Appeals Confirms One-Year Statute of Limitations for Disgorgement Claims That Is Not Subject to the Discovery Rule
By: Timothy L. Pierce, Hector H. Espinosa, and Samira F. Torshizi
In a recently published case dealing with issues of first impression, the California Court of Appeal Second Appellate District in Los Angeles held that the disgorgement penalty under Business and Profession Code § 7031(b) must be made within one year of completion or cessation of the performance of the project, and that time is not extended by the discovery rule. Eisenberg Village of the Los Angeles Jewish Home for the Aging v. Suffolk Construction Company, Inc., 2020 WL 5035826 (Cal. Ct. App., Aug. 26, 2020). BPC § 7031(b) permits a party who uses the services of an unlicensed contractor to recover any and all money paid to the contractor for its work—regardless of the quality of the work (indeed, even if the construction was flawless). The purpose of this harsh forfeiture provision is to deter unlicensed contractors from performing construction.
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