Home Improvement Contractor Trust Fund

The Home Improvement Contractor Trust Fund is a restitution fund managed by NYC’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) to protect homeowners who hire licensed home improvement contractors. If a licensed contractor does shoddy work, violates the law, goes out of business, or disappears—and the homeowner wins a judgment the contractor can’t or won’t pay—the Trust Fund can reimburse the homeowner.

Contractors either pay $200 every two years into the fund or post a bond instead. The Trust Fund only applies when:

• The contractor was properly licensed

• The contractor contributed to the fund during the relevant license period

• A DCWP administrative law judge finds the contractor violated the law

• The contractor cannot be located or made to pay

It’s essentially a safety net the city requires to protect consumers from financial loss caused by licensed contractors.