{
  "locale": "en",
  "access": {
    "cost": "free",
    "signupRequired": false,
    "loginRequired": false,
    "readCountsAreAnonymous": true,
    "readingHistoryAssociatedWithReader": false,
    "note": "Everything here is free to read. There is no account, no signup, and no login. Verifiant counts anonymous reads of each lesson; no reading history is associated with you."
  },
  "notice": "Verifiant is not the State of Arizona, the Arizona Registrar of Contractors, or a law firm, and nothing here is legal advice. It describes public process and public record, and links to the official sources so you can read them yourself.",
  "factsLede": "Every fact on this page names its official source, the date a person read that source, and the date it is due to be read again. Where a page here and the source disagree, the source is right.",
  "fact": {
    "slug": "cannot-sue-without-a-license",
    "locale": "en",
    "title": "A Contractor Without a License Cannot Sue for Payment",
    "statement": "A contractor who worked without the license the job required cannot use Arizona's courts to collect for it. The statute is blunt about the timing: no license when the contract was signed and while the work was done means no lawsuit for the money.",
    "factType": "public_rule",
    "source": {
      "label": "A.R.S. § 32-1153",
      "url": "https://www.azleg.gov/ars/32/01153.htm"
    },
    "authority": 1,
    "authorityName": "primary authority",
    "topic": "Licensing",
    "observedOn": "2026-08-11",
    "recheckBy": "2027-02-11",
    "plain": "Arizona's courts are closed to a contractor who worked without the license the job required: the statute makes holding the license - when the contract was signed and while the work was done - a condition of suing for payment.\n\nFor a homeowner, this is one of the reasons checking the license before money moves matters so much: it tells you which rules governed the person you hired before anything went wrong.",
    "limits": "This is about the contractor's ability to sue for payment, and nothing else. Applying it to a real situation is work for a licensed Arizona attorney.",
    "faq": [
      {
        "question": "Does this mean I never have to pay an unlicensed contractor?",
        "answer": "The statute closes the courthouse door on a suit for payment by a contractor who lacked the required license. It does not settle every question between the two of you - for your own situation, talk to a licensed Arizona attorney."
      }
    ],
    "publicationStatus": "published",
    "updatedOn": "2026-08-11",
    "path": "/learn/facts/cannot-sue-without-a-license"
  }
}