Congrats to my son Brady for obtaining his Maryland Homeowners Improvement License (MHIC!) This is a big deal in that any home improvement contractor operating in Maryland is required to be licensed. The purpose of the licensing is to preclude home owners from being ripped off by the Chuck With a Truck type operators as described here from the MHIC website (click here.)
Years ago Brady did a Saturday side job for a lawyer from DC with a summer home on St. George’s Island. The lawyer wanted his bathroom vanity replaced and some trim work done and Brady agreed to do the job for $200.
Once Brady removed the old vanity however, he discovered all sorts of rot to the studs and flooring stemming from a leaky water supply line. Brady showed it to the lawyer who then asked about locating a plumber. Brady said that he could fix the leak but that he would have to go back home to get some plumbing tools as well as go by Dyson’s to get some materials. The lawyer said go for it.
Brady then repaired all of the studding and flooring as well as the leaky pipe. However, by this time it was late in the afternoon and the lawyer came in to tell Brady that he and his wife had to get ready to go out for an event and they needed to use the bathroom to clean up. “We shouldn’t be long” he told Brady.
An hour later, they left and as they did so, instructed Brady to just leave them a bill and they would send him a check. Brady finished the job and left a bill for $300.
In the mail a few days later however, Brady received a long letter from the lawyer saying that the bill was over 30% higher than what they had agreed upon. Furthermore, the lawyer noted, because Brady did not have an MHIC license, and he (Brady) had done plumbing work, it was illegal and the lawyer did not have to pay Brady anything at all much less the additional $100. Brady, rightfully so, was pissed and discussed going down to the island and ripping out the vanity and plumbing that he had installed/repaired.
I talked Brady out of doing that by suggesting that he respond back to the lawyer with a letter documenting the chain of events as he had relayed them to me, point out to the lawyer that by doing the plumbing repairs he’d probably saved him a couple hundred dollars and that the job took twice as long to complete because of the leak repairs and them making him wait over an hour while they got ready to go out. “Lawyers like to argue and fight over things,” I said to Brady, “so document it, send him a letter and if he doesn’t come back to you with a check in a week or two, then I’ll go down to the island with you and help you rip the stuff out.”
Brady sent the letter and a couple days later called to tell me that he had gotten a check from the lawyer for the full $300. The lawyer thanked him and said that he appreciated all that Brady had done. 
Relieved, I asked Brady “OK, now that you’ve gone thru all that, what’s the lesson to be learned here?” (I was hoping and thinking that this was a good opportunity to re-encourage him to pursue getting that MHIC license.) Brady replied “Yeah, I’ve learned a lesson alright – don’t do any work for any f’ing lawyers again.”
That was then, but now he does have his MHIC. So, way to go Brady, you’re now legit!