JA RULE DISPUTES CONTRACTOR IN COURT: Rapper accused of failure to pay balance on a leak repair.

Ja Rule was in a courtroom last week, but it had nothing to do with his recent weapons charges.


The rapper, born Jeffrey Atkins, was disputing a criminal complaint brought by a local contractor who claims he is still owed $8,000 after fixing a bad leak at the artist’s $3.5 million Saddle River mansion, reports the New Jersey Herald.

"We put in 150 hours of manpower, which I gave to him for $13,000," said Joel Tobia, who claims he and six other men finished the work in three days. "He paid me $5,000 and wouldn't pay me the rest. I don't know why."

Ja Rule's lawyer Brian Neary argued "some work was done," but claims that the actual amount owed was $4,000 and that "there was a dispute as to whether the work was done properly and whether money is owed."

Thursday’s hearing on the criminal complaint follows a previous civil court judgment of $8,000 awarded to Tobia after Ja Rule failed to show up in court. Tobia filed the criminal complaint last month alleging that the 31-year-old artist’s failure to pay him amounted to theft of services.

A hearing to determine whether there was probable cause for the complaint, which was originally set for Thursday, has been rescheduled for next week at Tobia's request.

Meanwhile, Ja Rule is currently free on $150,000 bail stemming from an arrest in July. The rapper was charged with criminal weapons possession after police pulled over a car he was riding in for speeding and found a semiautomatic handgun in the vehicle.