Your contractor stopped. Here is where the money can come from.

What the four lines mean

• Chargeback. Card networks let you dispute a charge for services never delivered. The clock is 120 days from when the work was supposed to be done, with a hard stop 540 days after the payment. It is the only fast path and it costs nothing.
• Fund or bond. Eleven states run a recovery fund that pays homeowners; five more require a bond you can claim against. Most require a licensed contractor and a judgment or a board order first, and each has its own deadline.
• Bankruptcy claim. If the company filed, you file a proof of claim. A deposit for personal or household services gets priority up to $3,800 in cases filed on or after April 1, 2025; the rest is unsecured and, in a Chapter 7, usually recovers little.
• Lien exposure. An unpaid sub may be able to lien your home even though you paid the contractor. Whether that is a real threat depends on your state's notice rules; twenty-eight states protect an owner who paid in full.