Home Improvement Guaranty Fund
{Acrobat.gif (1090 bytes)} The Home Improvement Guaranty Fund is a pool of money that can be used to help satisfy homeowners who have lost money through incompetent or incomplete work done by a Connecticut registered home improvement contractor.
You may be eligible for up to $15,000 from the Guaranty Fund if the following conditions are met:
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Your contractor must have been registered with the Department of Consumer Protection at the time of the signing of your contract or within two years before the date you and your contractor signed your contract;
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The contract must be for work on residential property (single or multi-family dwellings of 6 units or less or condos or cooperatives);
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The total price of the work involved must be more than $200;
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You must apply to the Fund within two years after you received the court judgment against the contractor;
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For Federal or Superior Court judgments, you must have tried to collect the money owed you by means of an officer's writ of execution and were unsuccessful in that attempt. If it is not possible for you to comply with this requirement, but you can show that you have taken all reasonable steps to collect the amount of the judgment, the Commissioner of Consumer Protection may excuse you from this requirement;
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For Small Claims judgments, you are NOT required to attempt to collect by means of a writ of execution. If the contractor does not pay you in accordance with the judgment, you may apply directly to the Guaranty Fund.
The Home Improvement Guaranty Fund does not cover:
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construction of a new home, with certain exceptions;
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the sale of materials with no arrangements to perform any work or labor;
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the sale of goods or services for commercial use or resale;
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the sale of appliances (stoves, refrigerators, etc.) which can easily be removed from the home without material alteration;
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work performed by the homeowner on his or her own property without pay.
Any money paid to you is based on the balance in the Guaranty Fund at a given time as well as the number of claims against that money. The Commissioner reserves the right to order payment from the Fund in an amount less than was awarded to you in order to preserve the integrity of the Fund. If this is the case, the Commissioner will pay the balance of your award when the money is available.
You may recover from the Guaranty Fund actual damages, court costs and attorneys’ fees as ordered in your court judgment, up to $15,000.
You will have to turn over your right to sue the contractor to recover the amount paid from the fund to the Commissioner.
After you have been paid from the fund, any money you receive from the contractor or his representative (i.e. insurance company), must be returned to the fund.
You may fill out the Guaranty Fund application online by typing directly into the document. You can then print it for your use, and mail with the required documentation to the Department of Consumer Protection, Trade Practices Unit, 165 Capitol Avenue, Hartford, CT 06106.
Content Last Modified on 9/8/2008 12:08:39 PM
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