You paid a roofer a deposit and they stopped showing up: your options in Richmond and Virginia

We are an information site, not a roofing contractor.

Step 1: Read what you signed

If you signed within the last few days after an unsolicited visit, read our guide to the 3-business-day cancellation right first, because the window may still be open.

Start with the contract, because Virginia's contractor regulations set minimum contents for a residential job. The contract must be in writing and signed by both sides before work starts or money changes hands, and you should have received a signed copy before the work began. It must include these eleven things:

1. The start date and the estimated completion date.
2. The total price (or a capped cost-plus or unit-price arrangement).
3. The payment schedule, with the specific amount of the down payment.
4. The materials and work you asked for.
5. A force majeure clause.
6. A statement that the contractor will comply with local permit, inspection and zoning requirements.
7. The cancellation rights of both parties.
8. Your signed acknowledgment of DPOR's consumer protection notice.
9. The contractor's name, address, license number, class and specialty.
10. A requirement that changes be in writing and signed by all parties.
11. A notice about the state's contractor recovery fund.

Virginia regulations

The same regulation treats a contractor who stops work for more than 30 days without justification as having "abandoned" the job. Whether that definition fits a roofer who never started is a question for DPOR, which can tell you how it applies. One more point: the rule requires the down payment to be written into the contract, but we found no cap on its size. Read yours to see how much you agreed to pay up front.

If any of the eleven items is missing, write that down. A missing license number or an undated start is exactly what you will want to point to later.

Step 2: Check the license

Look the company up on DPOR's Virginia DPOR, by company name or license number, and note whether the license is active and whether its class or specialty covers roofing (ROC, RBC, CBC, HIC or CIC). Virginia generally requires a state license for work or bids over $1,000. Virginia DPOR Print or screenshot the page with the date visible. A company that does not appear, or whose name does not match your contract, changes which agency you should talk to first.

Step 3: Put a deadline in writing

Before you escalate, send one dated letter or email to the address on the contract. State the facts only: the date you signed, the amount and date of the deposit, the start date in the contract, and what has not happened. Give a specific date by which you expect them to start or return your deposit, and say what you will do next if they do not. Keep it short, calm and free of accusations. A clean paper trail helps every agency below.

Gather copies of the contract, receipts, proof of payment, photos of the roof as it stands and every message you exchanged. Make copies, because agencies ask for copies, not originals.

Step 4: Complain to DPOR

DPOR's complaint process uses its form F701. You send it, with copies of your documents, to the Complaint Analysis and Handling section, either by email at [email protected] or by mail or fax to 9960 Mayland Drive, Suite 400, Richmond, VA 23233. The phone number is (804) 367-8504. Virginia DPOR

Be clear about what this does. A complaint asks the state to look at the contractor's conduct and license. It is not a way to get your money back, which is the job of the steps that follow.

Step 5: Tell the Attorney General's Consumer Protection Section

The Virginia Attorney General's Consumer Protection Section accepts complaints about businesses operating in Virginia, including deceptive sales practices and failure to perform. The online form is the preferred method, and the hotline is 800-552-9963, or 804-786-2042 in Richmond. The office is at 202 North Ninth Street in downtown Richmond. Not every complaint is within its authority, and its website has a tool to help you find the right agency; contractor licensing questions belong with DPOR. Virginia Attorney General

Step 6: The Richmond General District Court

If the company will not return your money, the realistic route is a civil case. In the City of Richmond, the General District Court's civil division is in the John Marshall Courts Building, 400 North 9th Street, Room 203. The clerk's office phone is (804) 646-6461 and it is open 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Ordinary civil cases are heard on weekday mornings at 10:00, and small claims on Fridays at 9:00. Richmond General District Court Virginia's general district courts also have a small claims court for claims up to $5,000, not counting interest. You file a small claims civil warrant with the clerk, agree on a hearing date at least five days after the papers are served, and the court serves the company. No written complaint is needed. Everyone represents themselves in small claims, and a company may send an employee. The defendant can move the case to the regular docket, and then may use a lawyer. Code of Virginia We did not verify the filing fee, so ask the clerk, and ask which docket suits the amount you paid. We cannot tell you whether you have a winning case.

Step 7: The recovery fund, if the court rules for you

Virginia's Contractor Transaction Recovery Fund is a last resort. For your own home in Virginia, you must first win a judgment in a Virginia court (or get a court judgment confirming an arbitration award) against a contractor whose misconduct or fraud occurred while licensed, and then try to collect on it without success. You then have 12 months from the judgment to apply to DPOR's Board for Contractors, using the notarized fund application, not the complaint form. DPOR lists a limit of $30,000 per claim and $100,000 per contractor in two years. Virginia DPOR

Two consequences follow. The fund helps only if the contractor held a license when the misconduct happened, and it pays only after the court process is over. That is a reason to check the license early, as in Step 2, and to keep your court paperwork safe.

Free or low-cost legal help

Central Virginia Legal Aid Society is a nonprofit civil legal aid organization with an office at 115 S. 15th Street, Suite 400, Richmond. Its number is 804-648-1012 (800-868-1012 toll-free), and it is open weekdays 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. except holidays. Whether it can take your matter is the office's decision. Central Virginia Legal Aid Society

Questions? Call (804) 764-9710 — we are a local roofing information service, not a contractor.