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HEADNOTE: Stalker Brothers, Inc., et al. v. Alcoa Concrete Masonry, Inc. , No. 57, September Term, 2010

CONTRACTS; EFFECT OF MARYLAND HOME IMPROVEMENT LAW ON A BREACH OF CONTRACT ACTION ASSERTED AGAINST A GENERAL CONTRACTOR BY AN UNLICENSED SUBCONTRACTOR: The Maryland Home Improvement Law does not render unenforceable a contract between a home improvement general contractor and an unlicensed subcontractor.

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF MARYLAND No. 57 September Term, 2010

STALKER BROTHERS, INC., et al. v. ALCOA CONCRETE MASONRY, INC.

Bell, C.J. Harrell Battaglia Greene *Murphy Adkins Barbera, JJ.

Opinion by Murphy, J.

Filed: October 24, 2011 *Murphy, J., now retired, participated in the hearing and conference of this case while an active member of this Court; after being recalled pursuant to the Constitution, Article IV, Section 3A, he also participated in the decision and adoption of this opinion.

In the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, Alcoa Concrete Masonry, Inc., Respondent, ("Respondent") filed a complaint against Stalker Brothers, Inc., Robert Stalker, and Donald Stalker, Petitioners ("Petitioners"), in which Respondent alleged that it was entitled to a judgment in the amount that Petitioners had agreed to pay for home improvement work that Respondent had performed as a subcontractor for Petitioners. That complaint was dismissed by the Circuit Court, but reinstated by the Court of Special Appeals in Alcoa Concrete & Masonry, Inc. v . Stalker Brothers, Inc., 191 Md. App. 596, 993 A.2d 136 (2010). Petitioners then filed a petition for writ of certiorari, in which they presented this Court with three questions: [1] Whether an unlicensed subcontractor's claim for nonpayment should be honored by a Maryland court in view of more than ninety years of Maryland Court of Appeals precedent refusing to honor claims of unlicensed entities under regulatory licensing requirements[?] [2] Whether the Court of Special Appeals erred in failing to adhere to principles of stare decisis and follow the precedent of the Court of Appeals[?] [3] Whether the Court of Special Appeals erred in interpreting the Maryland Home Improvement [Law (the Act), Maryland Code (1975, 2004 Repl. Vol.),

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