Turkmen

INTRODUCTION

Appellant and cross-defendant Rahmi Turkmen appeals from a judgment entered following a grant of summary judgment in favor of respondents and cross- complainants James R. Katz and his wife Gail Lynn Katz on their cross-claim against Turkmen under the Contractor’s State License Law (Bus. & Prof. Code, § 7031, subd. (b)),1 which provides in relevant part that parties who hire an unlicensed contractor are entitled to reimbursement for amounts paid to the contractor. Turkmen, who has a tile contracting license, performed a number of jobs at the Katzes’ residence over a multi-year period. He sued the Katzes for failing to pay him for some of the work he performed, and the Katzes filed a cross-claim seeking reimbursement of $195,425, the amount they had paid Turkmen for construction work they alleged he was not licensed to perform. This case was previously before us on appeal after a jury trial. (See Turkmen v. Katz, June 21, 2012, B234235 [nonpub. opn] (Turkmen I).) The jury awarded Turkmen $120,000 in damages for unpaid work he performed for the Katzes that the jury concluded was within Turkmen’s tile contractor license. However, based on the Katzes’ cross-claim for…