Subcontractor Could Not Recover From Property Owners Absent Proof the Owners Consented to Pay the Subcontractor—Owners Hired the General Contractor Who In Turn Hired the Subcontractor

The Second Department determined the property owners were not liable in quasi contract to a subcontractor. The property owners demonstrated the subcontractor was not working for them, but rather worked for the general contractor hired by the owners. The mere fact that the owners consented to the work done by the subcontractor, and were benefitted by it, is not enough to demonstrate unjust enrichment. The subcontractor must show the owners consented to pay the subcontractor for the work:

“[A] property owner who contracts with a general contractor does not become liable to a subcontractor on a quasi contract theory unless it expressly consents to pay for the subcontractor’s performance” … . “The mere fact that the [owners] consented to the improvements and received some benefit from the [subcontractor’s] activities is insufficient to recover on such a theory; the [subcontractor] must also show that it was working for the [owners] when it performed its work resulting in unjust enrichment” … . Sears Ready Mix, Ltd. v Lighthouse Mar., Inc., 2015 NY Slip Op 02955, 2nd Dept 4-8-15