Consumers -- Home Improvement Contracts

About Home Improvement Contracts
Connecticut law requires a written contract for every home improvement job.
  • It must be in writing, including all changes and modifications.
  • It must include your Contractor Registration (HIC) number.
  • It must include four dates: the date the contract is signed, the date the
    work will begin, the date by which the work will be completed, and the date by which the homeowner may cancel the transaction.
  • It must include a Notice of the Customer’s Right to Cancel within three
    business days after signing the contract.
  • The Notice must be attached to and made part of the contract, and must be in duplicate. See an example, below.
  • The Notice contained in the contract must be near the customer’s signature and in substantially the following form:
“You the buyer may cancel this transaction at any time prior to midnight on the third business day after the date of this transaction. See the attached notice of cancellation for an explanation of this right.”
  • NOTE: Saturday is a legal business day in Connecticut.
  • Both the contractor and the customer must sign and date the contract.
  • The contractor must give the customer a completed copy of the contract to keep.
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SAMPLE NOTICE OF CANCELLATION

Seller: (Seller's name inserted by seller)

Date of Transaction: (Date of transaction inserted by seller)

You have the right to cancel this contract or sale by following the instructions in this notice. Your deadline is midnight on (date of the third business day after the date of the transaction, as inserted in boldface type by seller) to cancel. You have until this deadline to sign, date, and send this notice of cancellation to the Seller by email, fax, or mail to the contact information listed below.

(Instructions for seller: To determine the third business day, start counting on the day following the day when the transaction took place and do not count Saturdays, Sundays, or days designated as legal holidays in Connecticut.)

There is no penalty if you cancel. You do not have any legal obligations under the contract if you cancel. If you cancel, the seller must return to you any payments made by you, any property you traded in, and any negotiable instrument executed by you, such as a personal check, money order or promissory note. The seller has ten days after it receives your cancellation notice to return those items to you. Any security interest arising out of the transaction will be cancelled, such as a legal claim or a lien on your property.

If you cancel, you must make available to the seller any goods delivered to you under this contract or sale. The goods must be in substantially as good condition as when you received them. The seller can pick them up from your residence. If you make the goods available to the seller and the seller does not pick them up, after twenty calendar days have passed since you sent this notice to the seller, you may keep or dispose of the goods. If you do not make the goods available to the seller, you will still have to fulfill your contractual obligations.

The seller may also tell you how to return the goods to the seller at the seller's own expense and risk, such as by mailing them to the seller. You do not have to agree to return the goods to the seller yourself, but if you agree to do so but fail to send the goods to the seller, you will still have to fulfill your contractual obligations.

To cancel this contract or sale, you must sign and date this notice, and send it either by email, by fax, or by regular mail to:

(Seller's name inserted by seller)

Email: (Seller's business electronic mail address inserted by seller)

OR

Fax: (Seller's fax number inserted by seller)

OR

Regular mail: (Address of seller's place of business inserted by seller)

I hereby cancel this transaction.

Dated:

Signed: