The Florida Homeowners Construction Recovery Fund: How to Collect from an Uncollectible Contractor

A lawyer is suing a healthcare company for not providing proper care to a patient who got an infection. The lawyer wants the company to pay for the patient’s medical bills and for the harm caused. The Florida Homeowners’ Construction Recovery Fund was set up to help homeowners who have been cheated by licensed contractors. The Fund is paid for by a small percentage of building permit fees and provides financial help to homeowners who meet certain requirements. Homeowners can access the Fund by getting a court judgment, an arbitration award, or an order of restitution from the Florida Construction Industry Licensing Board. The violations must be related to not removing construction liens, abandoning a project, cost overruns, or issuing false information. Once a homeowner has one of these, they can apply for the Fund. The Fund is managed by the Florida Construction Industry Licensing Board. In Florida, if a contractor doesn’t do the work they were hired to do, homeowners can access a fund to help cover the costs. To do this, they need to get a court judgment that says the contractor broke the law. This can be hard because the same things that make a contractor liable for breaching a contract can also help homeowners access the fund. For example, if the contractor stops working for no good reason, or if they mismanage the money, homeowners can use those reasons to access the fund. There are other things that can help too, like if the contractor lies about having insurance. If there’s a problem with a contractor’s license, it needs to be handled carefully in a legal case. Make sure the facts of the case match the rules about licensing violations, but don’t specifically mention the law in the court case. If the case goes to court, the judgment should include the facts about the licensing violation and how it affected the homeowner. This makes it easier to get financial help from the Fund for injured homeowners. If the judgment doesn’t have enough information, it can be hard to access the Fund. It’s also important to handle arbitration awards and disciplinary orders carefully to make sure the homeowner can get the help they need. After the CILB issues a final order for restitution and the time for appeal is over, homeowners can file a claim with the Fund. It’s easier to access the Fund if the restitution order is based on a violation of the licensing law, because the violations are listed in the administrative complaint. The Contractor Recovery Fund pays money to people who have been ripped off by a contractor. The amount the fund will pay depends on when the contract was made and the type of contractor. In some cases, the fund will pay up to a certain amount of money to the person who was ripped off. If a claim is made, there is a process to follow to get the money from the fund, and both the person who was ripped off and the contractor have a chance to have a say in the process. If the fund pays the person who was ripped off, the contractor’s license will be suspended until they pay the money back to the fund. The Fund has hearings to decide on claims from homeowners against contractors. These hearings follow specific rules and don’t involve disputed facts. Once the Fund makes a decision, it’s hard to change it, so it’s important to make sure all the important information is presented. The Fund can help homeowners if a contractor goes bankrupt, so it’s important for both homeowners and contractors to consider the Fund when they start a case. Even though the Fund may not cover all losses, getting some money back is better than nothing. The construction industry in Florida has a fund to help homeowners who are unhappy with their construction work. The fund is paid for by a small fee added to permit fees for building projects. Only homeowners who live in the building for at least six months each year can make a claim to the fund. The fund only applies to certain types of construction work done by licensed contractors. If a homeowner is unhappy with their construction work, they can file a claim to get compensated from the fund. If a builder doesn’t finish a construction job, the person who hired them can claim damages up to the amount of money they paid as a deposit. They can also claim the difference between the contract price and the cost of finishing the work with another builder. This claim must be filed within one year of the builder’s bankruptcy. There have been cases where builders have been held accountable for not finishing their work. Some people had legal cases about construction licenses and access to funds. The outcome of the cases affects their ability to get money from different funds. The law says that a person can’t get money from the fund if they agree not to pursue any claims against the license of the qualifying agent with the CILB. These are references to specific laws and regulations in Florida related to construction contractors. They cover things like the powers of the Construction Industry Licensing Board (CILB) to discipline contractors, the rules for the Construction Industry Recovery Fund, and the requirements for filing a claim. Some cases are also mentioned to show how the laws have been applied in specific situations. If a licensed contractor gets money from a recovery fund to pay off a claim, their license is automatically suspended until they pay back the money. A bankruptcy doesn’t get them out of this. Diane S. Perera and Erik G. Ross are lawyers who specialize in construction law. We want our members to understand their responsibilities to the public, make the justice system better, and improve the study of law.

Source: https://www.floridabar.org/the-florida-bar-journal/the-florida-homeowners-construction-recovery-fund-how-to-collect-from-an-uncollectible-contractor/