An attorney may not represent you in small claims court, although you may consult an attorney before you go to court or after.

If you and the person you are suing live within the same county, your case will be heard within 40 days of the date you filed your claim. If the person you are suing lives outside your county, your case will be heard within 70 days.

If you are the plaintiff and you lose a claim you filed against the defendant, you may not appeal. However, occasionally, the defendant will file a claim against you and the hearing may be scheduled on the same day as your claim against the defendant. If you lose the claim the defendant filed against you, you may appeal that judgment. You may not appeal the decision on your own claim. A defendant who loses can appeal the judgment.

If any party appeals, there will be a new trial on all the claims. If you appeared at the trial, you must begin your appeal by filing a form called a Notice of Appeal and pay the required fees within 30 days after the date this Notice of Entry of Judgment was mailed or handed to you at the time of the small claims hearing. Your appeal will be in the superior court. You will have a new trial and you must present your evidence again. You may be represented by a lawyer.

Additional information about small claims court can be found at California Courts: Self-Help: Small Claims: Small Claims Court Basics.

There are exceptions to the licensure requirement. Work on a project for which the combined value of labor, materials, and all other items on one or more contracts is less than $500 falls within the minor work exemption. Work which is part of a larger or major project, whether undertaken by the same or different contractors, may not be divided into amounts less than $500 in an attempt to meet the $500 exemption. Unlicensed contractors must provide the purchaser with the written disclosure in California Business and Professions Code section 7048 stating that they are not licensed by the Contractors State License Board, or the $500 exemption does not apply and a citation can be issued for unlicensed activity.

Owner-builders who build or improve existing structures on their own property if they either do the work themselves or use their own employees (paid in wages) to do the work are not required to be licensed. However, this exemption is only valid if the structure is not intended or offered for sale within one year of completion.

Licensed contractors who engage in the business of home improvement or who provide goods and services for home improvement must have Home Improvement Certification. Home improvement means the repairing, remodeling, altering, converting, modernizing of, or adding to, residential property land or structures. It also covers providing home improvement goods and services.

All applicants for a new contractor's license, other than those applying for a joint venture license, must have more than $2,500 worth of operating capital. Operating capital is defined as your current assets minus your current liabilities. It is also a contractor's responsibility to file with the Registrar a Contractor's Bond or cash deposit in the amount of $7,500 (except for the C-53, Swimming Pool classification, which requires a $10,000 bond or cash deposit). In addition, contractors must submit a separate Bond of Qualifying Individual or cash deposit in the amount of $7,500 for the Responsible Managing Employee (RME) or the Responsible Managing Officer (RMO). However, the CSLB may grant an exemption from the requirement to file a Bond of Qualifying Individual if the RMO certifies that he or she owns 10 percent or more of the voting stock or equity of the corporation for which he or she is to serve as the qualifying individual.

Further information on the Contractors Law is available at the website of the Contractors State License Board.

Sole Proprietorship: A sole proprietorship, whether or not conducted under a fictitious business name provides no protection to the owner from personal liability. The liabilities of the enterprise, as well as the risks, are personal to the owner, irrespective of whether the liability arises from the acts of agents or employees of the employees. Income from sole proprietorships is taxed at the owner's individual tax rates whether or not the income is left in the business account.

Partnerships: Generally, there are three types of partnerships: (i) general partnerships; (ii) limited partnerships; and (iii) limited liability partnerships. Two or more persons or entities conducting business together without a written agreement will usually be construed to be a general partnership. In a general partnership each partner is personally liable for his or her own acts as well as for the acts of each of the partners undertaken in furtherance of the partnership. Income taxation in a general partnership flows through to each of the partners usually in proportion to their interests in the partnership. Limited partnerships consist of one or more general partners and one or more limited partners. The personal liability of a general partner in a limited partnership is the same as a partner in a general partnership. The liability of limited partners, however, is limited to the extent of their investment in the limited partnership. Limited partners trade for this additional protection by giving up most rights to participate in the management of the partnership. Income taxation generally flows through a limited partnership to the individual partners and taxed at the partner's tax rate. Limited liability partnerships are similar to limited liability companies, but are limited to professionals for whom a state license is required.

Corporations: There are many different types of corporations. However, for profit corporations provide limitations on shareholder personal liability for conduct undertaken in the furtherance of the corporation's business. Provided the corporation is in good standing and there is no legal basis to disregard the corporate entity, shareholders, officers and directors are not personally liability for the acts of the corporation's agents or employees. Such liability is assumed by the corporation and not directly by the shareholders. However, shareholders, officers and directors remain personally liable for their own conduct. Tax liability of corporations will vary by election. Should the corporation elect to be treated as a "sub-chapter S" corporation, then income from corporate activities flows through to the shareholders and is taxed at the individual shareholder's tax rate. There is no corporate income tax. Should the corporation elect to be treated as a "C" corporation, then corporate income will first be subject to corporate taxation before distribution to the shareholders, and then the distributions will be subject to personal income taxation.

Limited Liability Companies: Limited liability companies combine the limited liability protection of a corporation with the taxation consequences of "sub-chapter S" corporations, without the restrictions on entity ownership placed on "sub-chapter S" corporations, and with much less yearly paperwork to operate the entity. However, in California, limited liability companies must also pay a franchise tax based on yearly gross income.

More information is available at Starting a Business, located at the California Business Portal operated by the California Secretary of State.

Determining whether a broker meets the "threshold" criteria takes a careful reading of Section 10232 of the Business and Professions Code. Generally, the criteria is met by brokers who arrange, sell, or service "private investor" or "private lender" loans, sometimes referred to as "hard money" loans. The "threshold" criteria is satisfied by negotiating 10 or more loans or sales of notes or real property sales contracts in any 12-month period in an aggregate amount of more than $1,000,000 (all of which were funded or purchased by private investors or small pension trusts).

A broker can also meet the "threshold" criteria by servicing loans on behalf of investors or on behalf of obligors. If the aggregate amount of payments collected is $250,000 in any 12-month period, the "threshold" criteria has been met. Included in the $250,000 aggregate is any amount the broker collects on loan payoffs. Brokers who collect payments on behalf of obligors are typically those who collect payments from homeowners on a bi-weekly mortgage payment plan.

Within 30 days of meeting the "threshold" criteria, a broker is required to submit a Threshold Notification (RE 853) to the Department of Real Estate. After receipt of the "threshold" notification, the Department sends the broker information and necessary documents for required quarterly and annual reporting to the Department and adds the broker to the "threshold" list. The Department then tracks and records each required report from the broker. "Threshold" brokers make quarterly and annual reports to the Department on their trust fund bank accounts and an annual report on their business activities.

Every real estate broker who negotiates a loan to be secured directly or collaterally by a lien on real property shall, within three business days after receipt of a completed written loan application or before the borrower becomes obligated on the note, whichever is earlier, cause to be delivered to the borrower a statement in writing (borrower’s disclosure statement), containing all the salient features of the loan to be negotiated by the broker. The statement must be personally signed by the borrower and by the real estate broker negotiating the loan or by a real estate licensee acting for the broker in negotiating the loan. When so executed, an exact copy thereof shall be delivered to the borrower at the time of its execution.

A federal Good Faith Estimate (GFE) may also be required in a loan transaction under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA). The GFE may contain some similar disclosures but it cannot, without modification pursuant to Business and Professions Code Section 10240(c), be a substitute for the disclosure statement required by state law. The state disclosure statement is called the Mortgage Loan Disclosure Statement (MLDS). If a GFE is necessary in the loan transaction, the Department has available a Mortgage Loan Disclosure Statement/Good Faith Estimate (MLDS/GFE). The MLDS/GFE satisfies the state disclosure requirement and the federal GFE requirement.

In addition to a disclosure statement for the borrower in a loan transaction, there are lender disclosure statements that a broker may be required to use. Unlike the MLDS or MLDS/GFE which must be provided to a borrower in virtually every loan transaction, the disclosure statement for a lender/investor is limited to private and small pension trust lenders/investors. Lenders/investors such as banks, savings and loan associations, credit unions, and a variety of others need not receive the lender/investor disclosure statement which is called the Lender/Purchaser Disclosure Statement (LPDS).

Every real estate broker, in making a solicitation to a private investor and in negotiating with that investor to make a loan secured by real property or to purchase a real property sales contract or a note secured by a deed of trust, is required to deliver to the investor solicited the applicable completed statement as early as practicable before he or she becomes obligated to purchase or make the loan. The statement shall be signed by the prospective lender or purchaser and by the real estate broker, or by a real estate salesperson licensed to the broker, on the broker’s behalf. When so executed, an exact copy shall be given to the prospective lender or purchaser. The Department has available three versions of the LPDS, depending on the type of transaction. There are statements for loan origination, sale of an existing note and one for a collateralized loan. Please note that collateralized loans are not permitted in multi-lender transactions.

For more information visit the California Department of Real Estate (DRE).

Certain types of employees are not entitled to overtime wages.

A person employed in an executive capacity, where he or she is primarily involved in management; directs the work of two or more other employees; makes or assists in making hiring and firing decisions; customarily and regularly exercises discretion and independent judgment; and earns a monthly salary equivalent to at least two times the state California state minimum wage for full-time employment is not entitled to overtime compensation.

Similarly, a person employed in an administrative capacity, whose duties involve either the performance of office or non-manual work directly related to management policies or general business operations of the employer or the employer’s customers, or the performance of functions in the administration of a school system, or educational establishment or institution, or of a department or subdivision thereof, in work directly related to the academic instruction or training carried on therein; and who customarily and regularly exercises discretion and independent judgment; and who regularly and directly assists a proprietor, or an employee employed in a bona fide executive or administrative capacity, or who performs under only general supervision work along specialized or technical lines requiring special training, experience, or knowledge, or who executes under only general supervision special assignments and tasks; and who earns a monthly salary equivalent to no less than two times the state minimum wage for full-time employment is not entitled to overtime wages.

Persons employed in a professional capacity, who is licensed or certified by the State of California and is primarily engaged in the practice of : law, medicine, dentistry, optometry, architecture, engineering, teaching, or accounting, or who is primarily engaged in an occupation commonly recognized as a learned or artistic profession; who customarily and regularly exercises discretion and independent judgment in the performance of duties; and who earns a monthly salary equivalent to no less than two times the state minimum wage for full-time employment, is not entitled to overtime wages. However, pharmacists employed to engage in the practice of pharmacy, and registered nurses employed to engage in the practice of nursing, are not considered exempt professional employees.

Employees in the computer software field who are paid on an hourly basis are not entitled to overtime wages if they are primarily engaged in work that is intellectual or creative and requires the exercise of discretion and independent judgment; their duties consist of application of systems analysis techniques and procedures, including consulting with users, to determine hardware, software, or system functional specifications, or the design, development, documentation, analysis, creation, testing, or modification of computer systems or programs, including prototypes, based on and related to user or system design specifications, or the documentation, testing, creation, or modification of computer programs related to the design of software or hardware for computer operating systems; they are highly skilled and is proficient in the theoretical and practical application of highly specialized information to computer systems analysis, programming, and software engineering; and they are paid not less than $42.64 per hour (as of January 1, 2002) adjusted each year by an amount equal to the percentage increase in the California Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers. However, if the employee is a trainee or employee in an entry-level position who is learning to become proficient in the theoretical and practical application of highly specialized information to computer systems analysis, programming, and software engineering; or is in a computer-related occupation but has not attained the level of skill and expertise necessary to work independently and without close supervision; or is engaged in the operation of computers or in the manufacture, repair, or maintenance of computer hardware and related equipment; or is an engineer, drafter, machinist, or other professional whose work is highly dependent upon or facilitated by the use of computers and computer software programs and who is skilled in computer-aided design software, including CAD/CAM, but who is not in a computer systems analysis or programming occupation; or is a writer engaged in writing material, including box labels, product descriptions, documentation, promotional material, setup and installation instructions, and other similar written information, either for print or for on screen media or who writes or provides content material intended to be read by customers, subscribers, or visitors to computer-related media such as the World Wide Web or CD-ROMs; or is engaged in any of the activities set forth for the purpose of creating imagery for effects used in the motion picture, television, or theatrical industry, then such employee is entitled to receive overtime wages.

Governmental employees, outside salespersons, and relatives of the employer are not subject to these overtime wage laws.

For more information visit the California Department of Industrial Relations.