AG Thanks Lawmakers for Approval of Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act

HARRISBURG — On Thursday Attorney General Tom Corbett thanked members of the Pennsylvania Senate and House of Representatives for their approval of the Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act, intended to protect consumers from unscrupulous contractors, provide new protection for consumers who hire home improvement contractors and authorize criminal penalties for home improvement fraud.

“Complaints involving home improvement or repair projects are one of the top subjects of calls to the Attorney General’s Bureau of Consumer Protection,” Corbett said. “This legislation will give us new tools to identify and prosecute problem contractors, while also helping consumers avoid frustrating and potentially expensive problems in the future.”

Corbett said that the Attorney General’s Office received nearly 2,100 complaints last year from consumers struggling with problems involving home improvement projects. He added that legal actions filed so far this year against “no show” contractors and others doing substandard work seek nearly $2 million in consumer refunds, fines and civil penalties.

Corbett said home improvement contractors will now be required to register with the Attorney General’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, maintain minimum insurance coverage and use contracts that contain important information about home projects, including the start date and completion date, a de scri ption of work being performed and consumers’ rights under the law.

Additionally, Corbett said the Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act will require contractors to disclose whether they have had a license suspended or revoked by any state or municipality or have been barred from any government-funded home improvement program.

Contractors will be required to include their registration number on all advertisements, estimates and work proposals, and no home improvement contract will be valid unless it is clearly written and contains the contractor's registration number, detailed information about the proposed work and is signed by both the contractor and the homeowner.

Corbett said the legislation also creates a criminal offense called “home improvement fraud,” which will be enforceable by the Attorney General’s Office and county District Attorneys.

Corbett said the Attorney General’s Bureau of Consumer Protection will move quickly to establish a toll-free telephone number that consumers can call to verify if a contractor is registered. The office will also create an online registration system and other methods for contractors to comply with the new law.

The Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act was sponsored by Senator Robert “Tommy” Tomlinson of Bucks County. Representative Keith McCall of Carbon County, who sponsored similar legislation, was instrumental in securing passage of the measure in the House of Representatives.

Corbett urged the Governor to quickly sign the legislation into law. If approved by the Governor, the act will go into effect on July 1, 2009.

Consumers with home improvement disputes can call the Attorney General’s toll-free Consumer Protection Hotline at 1-800-441-2555 to file a complaint, or they can file complaints electronically using the Attorney General’s Web site.