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It depends on how good an old friend he is or was. If he represented himself as a certified and insured Home Inspector and was not you should not have to pay. If he takes you to court or continues to harass your mother I would turn him in to the state board. You may have had a valid agreement with him but that was under the premiss that he was in good standing as a home inspector. If he was an old friend you might want to let him know this is what you are ready to do. And add that you are only doing this as a friend. May be if he had stated that he "was" a home inspector and was just giving advice for preparation for a sale on your part a small fee could be expected.

Don

I think Don hit it on the head - if you got what you wanted, with him being a former home inspector, then you could pay him as a friend. If you were looking for a formal home inspection report under state law, then he failed to and could not deliver that, so I would tell him you are real disappointed to find out he is not licensed (presuming you found that out after the fact) so his "work" was of no value to you and under false pretenses, so you are not going to pay him. If he makes a fuss, make it clear a report to the state for practicing without a license will get him in a passle of trouble should shut him up.

Of course, the friendship will be shot, but likely is already if he is threatening to take you to court. If threatens to harrass your mother or actually does so, then timefor a police report - both for the harrassment and for fraudulent misrepresentation as an inspector. Of course, dealing with him through an attorney at this point would probably be best - getting a letter from an attorney will probably shut him up.

And of course, an appropriate review might be in order, in case he is doing "inspections" for other people too.