Berks Connect
Home Services

Contractor Didn't Finish the Job? Your Options in Berks, PA

Contractor took your deposit or didn't finish the job? The Pennsylvania offices, steps, court limits and fees, in order, for a Berks County homeowner.

Berks Connect Blog|Published October 13, 2026
Image for Contractor Didn't Finish the Job? Your Options in Berks, PA

When a contractor takes a deposit and stops showing up, the Attorney General's office lays out the steps in a sequence: put your request to the contractor first, then file a complaint with its Bureau of Consumer Protection. If mediation doesn't settle it, the bureau points people to two places: a private lawyer, or the local court for money claims, which hears claims up to $12,000. If you believe what happened is a crime, the bureau's guidance is to file a report with your local police department.

This is general information about how the process works, not advice about your situation, and a question about your own case goes to a lawyer. When you're ready to get the job finished, you can compare general contractors in Berks County.

What Pennsylvania law says when a contractor didn't finish the job.

Pennsylvania's home improvement law covers home improvement jobs over $500. It doesn't cover building a new home. Under it, a contractor can't abandon or fail to finish a job "without justification". If the owner didn't pay as the contract requires, or broke the contract some other way, that's justification. A violation of the home improvement law also counts as a violation of the state's consumer protection law, the Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law. That law lets a homeowner bring their own case in court.

A separate rule covers a job where none of the work, or no substantial part of it, was done. If more than 45 days have passed since the start date written in the contract, the homeowner can ask for the money back by certified mail sent to the contractor's last known address. The contractor has to refund it within ten days of signing for that letter or refusing it.

What the Attorney General asks you to do before you file a complaint.

The Attorney General's office first asks you to try to resolve the problem with the business. Its advice is to start a file with copies of receipts, contracts, canceled checks and letters, and to keep a record of who you spoke with and what was done. The office also lists photos among the documents to send with a complaint.

Its tips for a complaint letter to the business are to keep it brief, describe the service and who did it, state exactly what you want done and how long you're willing to wait, and send copies rather than originals. It also says not to write an angry or threatening letter, which is the hardest tip to follow on a night like this. Once a complaint is open, it asks that communications from you and the business be in writing.

How to file a complaint against a contractor in Pennsylvania.

You can file with the Bureau of Consumer Protection online through its complaint form, by mail to Strawberry Square in Harrisburg, or by calling 1-800-441-2555 from inside Pennsylvania to have a form mailed to you. If the complaint is one it handles, the bureau tries mediation. That means an agent contacts you and the business, mostly by letter, and tries to settle it. The business doesn't have to take part, the bureau doesn't take sides, and the result isn't binding. In most cases the business gets 21 days to respond, and the bureau says the process generally takes at least three months.

The bureau won't mediate a dispute that's already been in court, and if mediation doesn't work, it points people to a private lawyer or the magisterial district court. Whether or not mediation works, your complaint stays on file, which the bureau says can help establish a possible pattern of practices by the business.

You can report a contractor who isn't registered to the Home Improvement Registration hotline at 1-888-520-6680 or HIC@attorneygeneral.gov. A contractor doing $5,000 or more of home improvements a year has to register with the Attorney General, and our guide to verifying a contractor's registration in Berks County shows how to look one up. Registration isn't an endorsement of a contractor's skill.

When is taking a deposit and not doing the work a crime?

The home improvement law also sets out a crime called home improvement fraud, and intent is what defines it. One form of it is taking an advance payment, not doing the work by the date in the contract, and not returning the payment. All of that has to be done with intent to defraud or injure, or by knowingly helping someone else commit a fraud. The date in the contract is extended for things like a labor strike or an extension the owner agreed to.

How serious the charge is depends on the amount kept. When it's more than $2,000, it's a third-degree felony, punishable by up to seven years; at $2,000 or less, it's a first-degree misdemeanor, which in Pennsylvania can carry up to five years. It moves one grade higher when the victim is 60 or older, and a second offense after a first conviction is a second-degree felony, punishable by up to ten years. Those are maximums. When a conviction involves a victim's property that was unlawfully obtained, the law requires the court to order restitution, which means paying the victim back. On a home improvement fraud conviction, the court may also revoke or suspend the contractor's state registration.

District attorneys have the authority to prosecute it, and so does the Attorney General, including a series of violations involving more than one county or another state. The Bureau of Consumer Protection handles complaints and mediation, and its guidance for anyone who believes they're the victim of a crime is to file a report with their local police department.

How the local court for money claims works in Berks County.

The magisterial district court is the local court for money claims up to $12,000, not counting interest and costs. You can find which district court covers your address on the county's district maps, or by calling Special Courts Administration at the Berks County Courthouse, 610-478-6456. For the filing steps, see our guide to filing a small claims case in Berks County.

As of 2026, the base filing cost is $68.50 for $500 or less, $91 for more than $500 up to $2,000, $114 for more than $2,000 up to $4,000, and $171 for $4,001 to $12,000. Postage and registered mail aren't included in those amounts. Either side can appeal to the Court of Common Pleas within 30 days after the judgment is entered, and in Berks the fee at the Prothonotary, the county office that takes the appeal, is $225.

As for what a court can award, under the consumer protection law, someone who bought a service mainly for personal, family or household use and lost money because of a violation can be awarded their actual damages or $100, whichever is greater. The court may, at its discretion, award up to three times the actual damages, and it may award costs and reasonable attorney fees; whether that fits a given job is a lawyer's question.

Which office handles what, and where to get help with your own case.

Here are those offices side by side, with what each one does and how to reach it.

Office What it does How to reach it
Attorney General's Bureau of Consumer Protection Takes consumer complaints and tries to settle them by mediation. The business doesn't have to take part, and the result isn't binding. Online complaint form, mail to Bureau of Consumer Protection, 15th Floor, Strawberry Square, Harrisburg, PA 17120, or 1-800-441-2555 from inside Pennsylvania to get a form mailed
Attorney General's Home Improvement Registration hotline Takes reports of contractors working without the state registration. 1-888-520-6680 or HIC@attorneygeneral.gov
Magisterial district court Hears money claims of $12,000 or less. The base filing cost runs $68.50 to $171 by the size of the claim, plus postage and registered mail. The county's district maps on its magisterial district judges page, or Special Courts Administration at the Berks County Courthouse, 610-478-6456
Court of Common Pleas Hears an appeal from a district court judgment, filed within 30 days after the judgment is entered. The Berks appeal fee is $225. Berks County Prothonotary
Your local police department Takes a report from anyone who believes they're the victim of a crime. The police department for your municipality
Mid-Penn Legal Services Free legal help for people who qualify based on income. 1-800-326-9177 to apply; 35 North Sixth Street, Reading
Berks County Bar Association Lawyer Referral Service Matches you with a lawyer. 610-375-4591

Each office's role and contact details from its own pages and the laws cited below, October 2026.

For a question about your own case, the last two rows, Mid-Penn Legal Services and the Berks County Bar Association's Lawyer Referral Service, are two places in Berks to start. You can also browse lawyers in Berks County, and our guide to finding a lawyer in Berks County for your problem walks through the search. When it's time to have the job finished, you can look through general contractors in Berks County.

Frequently asked questions about unfinished contractor jobs.

Can a contractor put a lien on my house for an unfinished job?

A mechanics' lien is a claim against your property for unpaid work. A contractor can file one only for a claim over $500, has to file it within six months after its last work or delivery of materials on the job, and has to serve notice on the owner within a month of filing. On an unfinished job, a contractor still has a lien right if the job stopped through no fault of its own. A subcontractor or supplier has no lien right when all three of these hold: the home is, or is meant to be, the owner's residence; it's a one- or two-unit home or a single townhouse; and the owner or tenant has paid the contractor the full contract price.

Is there a state fund that pays homeowners back?

No. Pennsylvania's contractor law sets up no fund that repays homeowners. The fees and penalties it collects go into an account that can be appropriated to the Attorney General to enforce the law and educate consumers.

How long do you have to bring a claim against a contractor?

In Pennsylvania, a claim on a written contract has four years, and a fraud or deceit claim has two years; other kinds of claims have their own periods. When the clock starts and which period applies both depend on the facts, and that's a question for a lawyer.

Sources