Contractor took $12K deposit and disappeared

I'm losing my mind over this. In January, I hired a contractor to do a full kitchen remodel — new cabinets, countertops, flooring, plumbing, electrical. The total quote was $24,000 and he asked for a 50% deposit up front, which I paid: $12,000.

He came and did the demolition. Ripped out my old cabinets, tore up the flooring, disconnected the plumbing. Then he said he needed to "order materials" and would be back in a week. That was five weeks ago.

Since then: phone goes to voicemail, texts are unread, email gets no response. I drove to the address on his business card and it's a UPS Store mailbox. I don't even know if this guy is licensed. My kitchen is completely gutted and I have no working sink.

What are my options? This is in California. $12,000 is not a small amount of money for me.

I'm sorry you're dealing with this. Unfortunately, this pattern is common enough that there are well-established remedies. Let me outline your options.

1. CSLB Complaint: File a complaint with the California Contractors State License Board immediately. If this contractor is licensed, the CSLB has a Consumer Assistance fund that can help cover losses up to $25,000. If he's unlicensed, operating without a license is a misdemeanor in California (B&P Code 7028), and the CSLB investigates these cases. You can check his license status at cslb.ca.gov.

2. Criminal Complaint: What you're describing — taking money with no intention to complete the work — can constitute theft by false pretenses under Penal Code 532. Contact your local police department or DA's office. In many counties, the DA has a real estate fraud unit or consumer fraud unit that handles contractor fraud specifically.

3. Demand Letter: Even though he's ghosting you, send a formal demand letter to his last known address via certified mail. This creates a paper trail and gives him a deadline to respond. There are templates at /Demand-Letters/Home-Services-Construction/contractor-incomplete-work-demand-letters.html.

4. Deposit Limits: Here's something important — under California law (B&P Code 7159.5), a contractor cannot collect a deposit exceeding $1,000 or 10% of the contract price, whichever is less, for home improvement contracts. Your $12,000 deposit on a $24,000 contract massively exceeds this limit. That's an independent CSLB violation and strengthens your case.

5. Mechanics Liens: Check whether any subcontractors or material suppliers have filed or might file mechanics liens against your property. If the contractor hired subs and didn't pay them, they can lien your home. Get a preliminary title report to check.

I just checked the CSLB website and his license number comes back as "inactive/expired." It expired in 2024. So he was operating on an expired license this whole time. Does that make this worse for him?

Also, I had no idea about the deposit limit. He told me 50% was "standard" and I believed him. I feel so stupid now.

Don't feel stupid — he took advantage of the fact that most homeowners don't know these rules. That's exactly why the rules exist.

An expired license is treated the same as no license under California law. He was operating illegally the entire time. This actually helps you in several ways:

• An unlicensed contractor cannot enforce the contract or file a lien against your property
• Under B&P Code 7031, you may be able to recover all money paid to an unlicensed contractor, not just the unfinished portion
• The criminal exposure is higher — unlicensed contracting plus taking excessive deposits plus abandoning the project is a trifecta that DAs love to prosecute

File the CSLB complaint today, file a police report this week, and send the demand letter. Move on all fronts simultaneously. Also check if you paid by credit card — if any of the payment was on a card, you may be able to dispute it.

Licensed contractor here. I hate hearing stories like this because it gives all of us a bad name. A few things for anyone reading this to protect themselves in the future:

• Always verify the license at cslb.ca.gov BEFORE signing anything. Check that it's active, that the name matches, and that they have workers comp insurance listed.
• Never pay more than the legal deposit limit. Any contractor who demands 50% up front is a red flag, full stop.
• Payment should be milestone-based — pay for work completed, not work promised.
• Get a written contract with a detailed scope of work, timeline, and payment schedule.

For the OP, I'm sorry. The CSLB route is your best bet. They take this stuff seriously and they have resources to track these guys down. I've seen the CSLB pursue contractors who thought they could just disappear.

If you can locate him and serve him, small claims court in California now has a $12,500 limit for individuals (as of 2024). Your $12K claim would fit. Filing fee is around $75 and you don't need a lawyer.

The tricky part is service. You need his actual physical address. A few tips: check the CSLB records for a home address (sometimes listed as the license address), look for any permits he pulled with local building departments (his address is usually on the permit application), or hire a skip trace service — they're usually $50-$100 and can find a current address.

If he doesn't show up to court after proper service, you get a default judgment. Then you can go after his bank accounts and any assets. A judgment also shows up on his credit report.

Thank you all so much. I filed the CSLB complaint online today and it was actually pretty straightforward. I also called the non-emergency police line and they're going to take a report — the officer I spoke with said they've had other complaints about the same contractor, which makes me feel like there might be a pattern here.

I'll send the demand letter this week and start the small claims process. My neighbor also told me there's a local news consumer investigation reporter who covers stories like this. I might reach out to them too. Sometimes public pressure works when everything else fails.

The fact that police have other complaints is significant. That could elevate this from a civil matter to a criminal prosecution with multiple victims. The DA's office is much more likely to pursue a case when there's a pattern of fraud across multiple homeowners.

The media angle is also smart. Consumer reporters at local news stations have investigators who specialize in tracking down contractors who ghost homeowners. And yes, the public exposure often produces results when legal threats alone don't. Keep us updated — I hope you get your money back.