Connecticut General Statutes 20-429 – Required contract provisions. Negative option provisions prohibited. Contract considered home solicitation sale. Contractor-financed contract. Recovery of payment for work performed
(a)(1)(A) No home improvement contract shall be valid or enforceable against an owner unless it: (i) Is in writing, (ii) is signed by the owner and the contractor, (iii) contains the entire agreement between the owner and the contractor, (iv) contains the date of the transaction, (v) contains the name and address of the contractor and the contractor’s registration number, (vi) contains a notice of the owner’s cancellation rights in accordance with the provisions of chapter 740, (vii) contains a starting date and completion date, (viii) is entered into by a registered salesman or registered contractor, and (ix) includes a provision disclosing each corporation, limited liability company, partnership, sole proprietorship or other legal entity, which is or has been a home improvement contractor pursuant to the provisions of this chapter or a new home construction contractor pursuant to the provisions of chapter 399a, in which the owner or owners of the home improvement contractor are or have been a shareholder, member, partner, or owner during the previous five years.
Terms Used In Connecticut General Statutes 20-429
- Commissioner: means the Commissioner of Consumer Protection or any person designated by the commissioner to administer and enforce this chapter. See Connecticut General Statutes 20-419
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Contractor: means any person who owns and operates a home improvement business or who undertakes, offers to undertake or agrees to perform any home improvement. See Connecticut General Statutes 20-419
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Finance charge: The total cost of credit a customer must pay on a consumer loan, including interest. The Truth in Lending Act requires disclosure of the finance charge. Source: OCC
- Home improvement: includes , but is not limited to, the repair, replacement, remodeling, alteration, conversion, modernization, improvement, rehabilitation or sandblasting of, or addition to any land or building or that portion thereof which is used or designed to be used as a private residence, dwelling place or residential rental property, or the construction, replacement, installation or improvement of alarm systems not requiring electrical work, as defined in section 20-330, driveways, swimming pools, porches, garages, roofs, siding, insulation, sunrooms, flooring, patios, landscaping, fences, doors and windows, waterproofing, water, fire or storm restoration or mold remediation in connection with such land or building or that portion thereof which is used or designed to be used as a private residence, dwelling place or residential rental property or the removal or replacement of a residential underground heating oil storage tank system, in which the total price for all work agreed upon between the contractor and owner or proposed or offered by the contractor exceeds two hundred dollars. See Connecticut General Statutes 20-419
- Home improvement contract: means an agreement between a contractor and an owner for the performance of a home improvement. See Connecticut General Statutes 20-419
- Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
- Owner: means a person who owns or resides in a private residence and includes any agent thereof, including, but not limited to, a condominium association. See Connecticut General Statutes 20-419
- Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
- Salesman: means any individual who (A) negotiates or offers to negotiate a home improvement contract with an owner, or (B) solicits or otherwise endeavors to procure by any means whatsoever, directly or indirectly, a home improvement contract from an owner on behalf of a contractor. See Connecticut General Statutes 20-419
(B) Each change in the terms and conditions of a contract shall be in writing and shall be signed by the owner and contractor, except that the commissioner may, by regulation, dispense with the necessity for complying with the requirement that each change in a home improvement contract shall be in writing and signed by the owner and contractor.
(2) A contract for repair, remediation or mitigation as set forth in section 38a-313a shall conform to the requirements set forth in subparagraph (A) of subdivision (1) of this subsection and section 38a-313a.
(b) No home improvement contract shall be valid if it includes any provision obligating the owner to instruct the home improvement contractor, by a date determined by such contractor, that periodic home improvements are not to be performed unless it also includes a provision requiring the contractor to remind the owner of that obligation by means of a card or letter mailed to the owner and postmarked not earlier than twenty days, and not later than ten days, prior to such date.
(c) The contractor shall provide and deliver to the owner, without charge, a completed copy of the home improvement contract at the time such contract is executed.
(d) The commissioner may, by regulation, require the inclusion of additional contractual provisions.
(e) Each home improvement contract entered into shall be considered a home solicitation sale pursuant to chapter 740 and shall be subject to the requirements of said chapter regardless of the location of the transaction or of the signing of the contract. Each home improvement contract in which the owner agrees to repay the contractor an amount loaned or advanced to the owner by the contractor for the purposes of paying for the goods and services provided in such contract, or which contains a finance charge, (1) shall set forth the information required to be disclosed pursuant to the Truth-in-Lending Act, sections 36a-675 to 36a-685, inclusive, (2) shall allow the owner to pay off in advance the full amount due and obtain a partial refund of any unearned finance charge, and (3) may contain a finance charge set at a rate of not more than the rate allowed for loans pursuant to section 37-4. As used in this subsection, “finance charge” means the amount in excess of the cash price for goods and services under the home improvement contract to be paid by the owner for the privilege of paying the contract price in installments over a period of time.
(f) Nothing in this section shall preclude a contractor who has complied with subparagraphs (A)(i), (ii), (vi), (vii) and (viii) of subdivision (1) of subsection (a) of this section from the recovery of payment for work performed based on the reasonable value of services which were requested by the owner, provided the court determines that it would be inequitable to deny such recovery.