What should I do in Pennsylvania if a contractor takes a deposit and disappears?

I hired a contractor to perform some work in PA, paid them a deposit of $3,000 and they walked off the job and I haven’t heard from them again.

Besides leaving a review on BuildZoom and filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, what are the steps I can take to recover my deposit and make sure this contractor doesn’t take advantage of others in the future?

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Call the attorney general’s office, and contact the Better Business Bureau

The HICPA Law was created for cases such as this. If you visit www.attorneygeneral.gov you can find the home improvement information. You should submit a consumer complaint form online at www.attorneygeneral.gov, under the section marked consumers, or file a complaint by calling 1-800-441-2555 and requesting a consumer complaint form. Your complaint is then reviewed by an Agent and a letter with a file number, Agent’s name and phone number will be mailed to you.

Did you get any of his business info. Phone # address ect., not a good idea to give a deposit unless you do some reserch on a contractor. If you do have any info, try the local authorities or the AG office. you could also file a small claims against him. Seems like someome should be ableto help you it is theft by deception no matter how you look at it.Hope you got some type of record of the transaction. Good luck .

In PA, you need to not only contact the AG office, but also your local Police and Distric Justice office to report this as theft.

The BBB can do absolutely nothing. It is a private company that one must pay to join and be listed. I highly doubt this so-called contractor is listed on the BBB.

Call the police. Get a copy of the cashed check from your bank or credit card company. After filing the police report, call the BBB, State Licensing Board, County Boards where the the Company’s address is and make complaints. Go to your local State Attorney’s Office and Launch a complaint. And if you can afford it., get an Attorney and sue… Dishonesty is not tolerated

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I actually took over a project that the previous contractor bailed on. The client was able to contact their bank and reverse the funds. It took about a month for them to recieve their funds, however the bank was able to take care of the situation. Hopefully you paid with a check or card payment of some sort.

I know they also had to file a police report to provide the bank authorization to reverse the funds.

I personally think that you should file a complaint and go to consumers affairs to report his company… Thats a 100% theft… thats why its very important for a customer to ask the contractor for his license number and insurance, in case something comes out wrong, you can have a law suit against the company.

contact the attorney genneral and file a complaint. then you shoul also contact your bank, and also file charges at the magistrate

You should contact the Attorney General Office and file a complaint against the contractor. Hopefully, you had a contract as proof of the work that was to be performed and made a copy or got a copy of your check from the bank. Also, contact the Police Department . The BBB will not be able to do anything for you, as they are not a government authority, only a rating company.

Good luck.