December 2023: Home Improvement Contractors--Are You Complying with HICPA?

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The Pennsylvania Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act, or HICPA, has been on the books since 2009 --so almost 15 years now. But if two recent court cases from late 2023 (here and here) are any indication, home improvement contractors are still not fully complying with HICPA.

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HICPA does several things that contractors who perform home improvement work in Pennsylvania must do. For one thing, contractors must register with the PA Bureau of Consumer Protection. But HICPA requires contractors to do more than just register.

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Contractors must also have written contracts with their homeowner customers.

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And for those contracts to be enforceable (and what's the point of having contracts if they're not worth the paper they're written on), the contract must include very specific information, such as:

• the approximate starting and completion dates of the project,

• a description of the work and materials to be used in the project,

• the sales price (including estimates, if used), and

• a notice that the customer has the right to rescind the contract.

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Plus, a contractor who wants to have any disputes with the customer arbitrated rather than litigated in court must include very specific arbitration language in the contract.

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Home improvement contractors who don't comply with HICPA are taking a big risk. The PA Attorney General can sue and seek civil penalties of up to $5,000 for each violation. If a homeowner sues a contractor and wins, the contractor could have to pay up to 3 times the homeowner's damages, plus the homeowner's attorneys' fees and costs--in addition to the contractor having to pay its own attorneys' fees and costs. So non-compliance can become very expensive.

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If you do home improvement work in PA, contact the Barron Law Office today to avoid putting your business at risk and to ensure you're in compliance with HICPA.

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