Under the disgorgement provision of the license law, what may a customer who hired an unlicensed contractor do?

Explanation

B&P §7031(b) lets a person who used the services of an unlicensed contractor sue to recover all compensation paid for the work, and §7031(a) separately bars that contractor from suing for anything unpaid. (a) is the set-off misconception: the remedy reaches money already handed over, not merely money still owed. (c) treats the §7048 $1,000 threshold as a deductible, but it is a test of whether a license was needed at all, and a job that needed one gives no credit for the first $1,000. (d) is the good-work defense the courts have rejected; the only narrow escape is the substantial-compliance showing in §7031(e).