The Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation administers the Residential Contractor's Guaranty Fund to compensate homeowners up to $10,000 for actual losses sustained by them as a result of the conduct of a registered contractor. The Guaranty Fund is a resource of the last resort for homeowners who have exhausted reasonable legal efforts to collect an arbitration award or a court judgment. A homeowner's actual loss may be different than the monetary arbitration award or court judgment issued to them. Actual loss is measured by one of the following calculations. Use the appropriate formula to determine the amount of your actual loss.
  1. Calculation When No Work Is Performed. If the contractor abandoned the contract without doing any work, the actual loss shall be the amount which the homeowner paid to the contractor under the terms of the contract.
Amount Paid to Contractor:$
This is your actual loss.
  1. Calculation When Some of the Work Is Performed. If the contractor partially and properly completed some of the work which was agreed to under the terms of the contract, the actual loss shall be totaled by adding the amount of the reasonable cost of completing the contract and, if necessary, repairing the contractor's defective performance, and by subtracting the part of the contract price that has not been paid by the owner.

Step 1:

Amount of the Contract

$

Subtract (-)

Amount Paid to the Contractor

$


Total = Unpaid Total of Contract


$

Step 2:

Amount to Repair or Complete the Work

$

Subtract (-)

Unpaid total of Contract

$


Total =


$
This is your actual loss.

(a) Determination of Grossly Underbid Contracts. Upon a determination by the arbitrator or OCABR that the contractor grossly underbid the contract with the result that competent workmanship to finish the contract will cost significantly more than the original contract price, the actual loss will not include the owner's cost to complete the contract.

(b) Calculation for Grossly Underbid Contracts. Upon such a determination, the actual loss shall be the amount which the owner paid to the contractor, minus the value of any work properly completed, minus the cost of any materials properly used, plus, if necessary, the cost to correct that portion of the contracted work that was improperly completed.

Amount Paid

materials properly used, plus, if necessary, the cost to correct that portion of the contracted work that was

improperly completed.

Amount Paid to the Contractor

$

Subtract (-)

Value of Properly Completed Work

$

Subtract (-)

Cost of Materials Properly Used

Add (+)

Cost to Correct Improper Work


Total =


$
This is your actual loss.

  1. Calculation

When All of the Work Is Performed, But Performed Incorrectly. If the contractor fully but improperly completed work that was agreed to under the terms of the contract, the actual loss shall be the amount required to correct the improperly completed work.

Amount Required to Repair the Work:$
This is your actual loss.