I live in a townhome with an HOA. 2014 my roof leaked, water damage to ceiling. to date repairs are still not complete.

Do you know any of your HOA Directors? You should ask one of them to sit down and talk with you about this. If each of them refuses, then your CC&Rs should have an Internal Dispute Resolution procedure which REQUIRES the HOA Board to appoint one of its members to talk to you, not the property management company, and actual HOA Board Member. It's covered in the Civil Code §5915. When a property owner hires someone to do work which requires a license and the person does not have the required license, then the property is automatically a direct employee of the property owner. That's the law. There is a statute which says so. That means that the property owner, not the contractor, is personally liable for any injury to any worker. There is a statute creating a presumption that the property owner was negligent and at fault. That means the property owner has the burden of proof to prove by admissible evidence that the property owner was NOT negligent. Since the property owner was not in charge, neither you nor the HOA will have taken any required safety precautions. So you will be held legally and financially responsible for any injury to any of the unlicensed contractor's employees. The workers comp limits don't apply. Unlimited damages, including pain and suffering. Your insurance doesn't cover it. Your general liability coverage does not cover liability required by law to be covered by workers comp insurance, and you and your HOA don't have your own workers comp policies. The contractor has no insurance. He can't. You can't buy insurance for illegal activities. That's why no one should ever hire an unlicensed person to perform work which requires a license. As a general rule, anything over $500.00 requires a license. If you appreciate this free advice, please remember to refer me to any friends or acquaintances who need a lawyer. Referrals are still our best source of new business. Do you have a revocable living trust to protect your heirs against probate? Probate takes forever, is expensive, and is annoying. Do your family a favor. Set up a trust, and put all your property, especially any real property, into the trust. Since it is revocable, you can change it, add to it, take property out of it, or even cancel it completely, at any time. We set up such trusts, provide a pour-over will as a back-up for any property that does not make it into the trust, provide you with blank durable powers of attorney for health care and financial decisions, in case you become incapable of making such decisions while still alive, and convey one piece of real property to the trust, usually the family home, for $1500.00. If you would like to hire me to do this, let me know, and I'll send you a list of the information I need.   Dana Sack