Home improvement contractors licenses

Contractors who do home improvement work in the State of New York are required to have licenses issued by Consumer Affairs. Even with this law, it is not unusual to come across many contractors doing this type of work who do not have them. It is not a license which means they are more qualified than other contractors. Rather, it is a license to protect consumers against bad business practices. There are statutory requirements listing certain contractual provisions which must be in their contracts with consumers. When I am asked by clients to review such contracts, I always look first at the top of the contract for their licenses numbers. Not seeing that number on a contract is an immediate red flag to me as an attorney that they probably do not have such a license. There are other important provisions I should see, such as one indicating that they will hold money they are paid in an escrow account, so that payments are based on the amount of work actually done. Not having such a license may also be grounds to have a mechanic's lien vacated. Their subcontractors must also have these licenses. Consumer Affairs has its own administrative law judges who hear cases involving complaints about licensed contractors. If a contractor has allegedly done bad work or taken money that should have been refunded, these issues can be tried in the context of asking that a contractor's license be suspended. On smaller matters, this can be an alternative to going to court. C. Jaye Berger, Esq, is an attorney and the principal of Law Offices C. Jaye Berger, New York, N.Y.