So why are you allowed to cut your own lawn without a license? The possibilities are endless.

"So why are you allowed to cut your own lawn without a license?"

Because you aren't paying someone else to do it.

Geez, I'm surprised I have to explain these things.

Look, here in SC we have a phenomenon called "the Murphys". They roll up and offer to provide a cheap service with "leftover" supplies from "the job we're doing right down the road".

When you let them onto your property, they apply shoddy materials that actually damage your property, and if you leave your property unattended, they simply make off with it.

Again - this is not something you can protect against after the fact.

If you hire a licensed entity, you can identify the people in charge, in some cases determine their reputation, and you have recourse in case of damage.

Not so with the anonymous. If you really think you can defend yourself against scams all by yourself - or you won't bear the costs when your neighbors are scammed - I suggest you've been testing a controlled substance in an uncontrolled manner.

If you hire a licensed entity, you can identify the people in charge, in some cases determine their reputation, and you have recourse in case of damage.

Really? How is the average citizen supposed to know whether or not lawn cutters are supposed to be licensed? what the licence looks like? what government number to call to verify the licence number? what procedures are in place to verify that the person holding the licence is actually the person who got the licence?

I hired a licensed landscaper. The guy did my neighbor's backyard, it came out beautifully, so I had him come over, and give me an estimate. A month later I was ready to start work so I called him up to sign off on the contract. Someone else showed up to do the work - supposedly the first guy's partner. Essentially, what had happened was guy #1 sold the biz to guy #2 without telling me and the mess I ended up with in my yards was ridiculous. I ended up suing him, was given a judgment against him, tried collecting on his surety bond, and got nothing. A license does not protect you against shoddy workmanship or a crook. All they have to do is dissolve that business, and start another one, under someone else's license number.

I had all the hardscaping done by a group of Tongans at the same house. The lead guy, William, didn't have a license, but I never had an ounce of trouble out of the work he did. He would show up with his crew by 7 am - break for a quick lunch and then went back to work until the end of the day. He would come back every year to see how things looked, see if I needed any other cement or brick work done and would fix any bricks that the kids had managed to knock loose.
Best brick/cement guy ever. I wish I knew how to contact him today.

Legitimacy is created by those who license, and similarly in this case, those who seek to profit from licensing fees, etc. I wonder how much it actually cost to run this ridiculous example of "law enforcement," versus the benefit.

Again, government should be privatized. In the private world, stock holders and customers (technically - we the taxpayer) wouldn't stand for it and could do something about it... Call it government and make it public, and ironically the public can't do a damn thing....

Let's call this "Lawngate."

Looks like the Mexicans who jump the border are going to have to find another line of work.

As for this stuff, it's undoubtedly those that have already obtained their lawncare license lobbying to make the standards harder for those who haven't already gotten theirs, to prevent competition.

I wonder why those that hire these people aren't also arrested.

I wonder why those that hire these people aren't also arrested. -- Patrick at September 17, 2013 7:51 PM

It's because the contractors ignorance of the law is deliberate. Meanwhile the person that hires off CraigList is always ignorant that the half cost charge is not a bargain because they are just a stupid citizen of California.

Jim P: It's because the contractors ignorance of the law is deliberate.

So ignorance of the law is an excuse?

Patrick, ignorance of the law is inevitable.

There are a lot more than 10 commandments now. There are so many laws in place that you can't avoid violating several of them per day, and most of the time you'd never even be aware of it.

One of the requirements for guilt under the law is that there is a reasonable expectation that a person know that they are violating the law and that what they are doing is wrong.

Answering an ad on craigslist to cut some dude's lawn is not a common sense violation.

In addition to people already established in the business trying to use government to raise barriers to competition, this is the broke ass state of California trying to make use of a resource - already hired investigators with too much time on their hands and not enough work - to raise more revenue.

Aside: I would never hire a neighbors kid to do my lawn. If she/he gets injured on my property, whom do you think the parents will sue?

Yeah, that's right, they're going to sue me. Sorry, kid, no thanks...

So why are you allowed to cut your own lawn without a license?

Because you aren't paying someone else to do it.

Oh, give it time. Remember, a DiYer is depriving someone of a job. Besides, if you require home owners to pay a fee for doing their own work, you can roll that into the property taxes and they'll never know...

Robert writes: One of the requirements for guilt under the law is that there is a reasonable expectation that a person know that they are violating the law and that what they are doing is wrong.

Not in all cases, not to seem too nit-picky. Since in 90% of the cases you're right. You cannot "accidentally" murder someone, since murder requires mens rea.

However, in the case of strict liability crimes, such as drunk driving or statutory rape, no mens rea required. If you're doing it, you're guilty.

A drunk driver does not need to be aware that he's drunk (or driving, for that matter). If he's doing it, he's guilty, whether he knows it or not.

And if you're banging someone who's underage, you're guilty, even if your sexual partner presented you with convincing ID that stated they were of age, if it turns out they're not of age, you're guilty.

And thank you for the points you brought up, Robert, about the plethora of laws we probably don't know about or don't know that we're breaking.

So, awareness under the law is a requirement in the vast majority of cases, but not in every case.

"How is the average citizen supposed to know whether or not lawn cutters are supposed to be licensed?"

luj, look in the damned yellow pages. The licensed and insured guys advertise that fact.

Now, if you want to pay Cousin Billy to mow something, take your chance. You're supposed to know family members, and it's up to you IN EVERY CASE to know who it is on your property.

Who else is gonna do that?

So the fact that some lawn care companies put ads in the yellow pages if proof that I should now the state requires licence is cut grass?

Sure, I get that a business that employs people has to have a BUSINESS licence and tax ID in order to pay employees.

But who the fuck am I supposed to know that a licenced business needs a lawn care licence as well?

Also by what method does the yellow pages make sure those paying to advertise in its pages are in actuality licenced?

When I was a boy...80s...if you made more than so much mowing lawns you had to get a business license. My brother did.

All the ads for lawn care...yellow pages (apparently...I have not looked in them for years), radio, Tv (rarely seen), postings mention it. Then the news stories about people being ripped off and reminders to check that anyone you hire has a license. If you don't know it, I don't know how...
I guess it is back to the old statement... common sense is not very common.

"What's next, requiring a license to mow your own lawn?"

Come on, concentrate!

Been there. You're not paying a commercial venture.

"What's next, requiring a license to mow your own lawn?" -Amy

Come on, concentrate!

Been there. You're not paying a commercial venture.

But you are denying business to a licensed commercial venture, which is what these guys were basically arrested for

The CSLB basically promotes fraud and incarceration for hard working people. I am forced to fund the system to get the proper documentation for energy rebates to my customers.

I have been licensed for over 20 yrs and still get no real protection from fraud for customers or self.

Here are the things a "real" program against fraud would include.
1.) A real ID like the DMV issues with the holder picture and fingerprint.
2.)Do not allow "fake" corporate usages for officers of Corp that have no education/experience/documentation. These are million dollar plus companies with no real qualifications or experience.
You just pay for the "rights" to do business just like mob payments.
3.) Stop allowing transfers of licenses.
4.) Start protecting the customer in court or at least arbitration services. Stop pretending the state offers these services with the to busy, low budget excuse.
5.)Stop the "COPS PR Propaganda". Swift is a big joke just make the state look like it is doing something. It is just putting hard workers in jail using millions of dollars. It then lets out the rapist and other hardened criminals to make room. Look at the math. 100 offenders out of 10 million workers! Your chances of getting caught are so low that the program is essentially promoting what it claims to prevent.

This is the first blog i have seen that brings up some of the disfunction in the CSLB. I hope to soon offer a guide to promote owner builder rights and barter techniques to bypass the CSLB system and its workers fees/bribes.