Contractor Gone ยท North Carolina
Contractor gone in North Carolina: where the money can come from
North Carolina's Homeowners Recovery Fund is a true last resort: licensed general contractors only, an unpaid judgment, and proof you tried everything else. It exists, and it pays, but the Board complaint and the small-claims judgment come first. Projects under $40,000 are outside the license altogether.
Run the free check for North Carolina
The four paths in North Carolina
| Card chargeback | Same in every state. Dispute for services not rendered within 120 days of the promised completion, no later than 540 days after the payment. Each payment has its own clock. |
| State fund | Homeowners Recovery Fund, North Carolina Licensing Board for General Contractors. Cap: confirm with the Board (statute G.S. 87-15.5 to 87-15.9). Precondition: Licensed general contractor; an unpaid judgment, with every other avenue exhausted; general contractors only, not specialty trades. Deadline: confirm. verified Agency page |
| Bankruptcy claim | If the company filed, a proof of claim (Official Form 410) with the court by the bar date. A deposit for personal or household services is a priority claim up to $3,800 for cases filed on or after April 1, 2025 (11 U.S.C. 507(a)(7)); the rest is general unsecured. |
| Lien exposure: Mostly protected | Subs must serve notice on the lien agent named at permitting, and their lien on your property is limited to what you still owed the contractor when the notice arrived. |
Is the contractor licensed?
Licensed by the Licensing Board for General Contractors (projects of $40,000 or more). Look up the license. Pool builders on projects of $40,000 and up need the general contractor license; smaller jobs are unlicensed by design.
Deposits and the contract
No statute caps deposits or sets a refund clock. confirm
Small claims
Small Claims Court (Magistrate), generally up to $10,000 as of 2025; confirm the current limit on the court's site before filing. Above the cap, the regular civil docket, where a lawyer is optional but usual. confirm
In order
- Pull the contract, every receipt, and your card or bank statements. The contract page shows where each number lives.
- Check the license at the link above. Licensed opens the fund; unlicensed means small claims and a report to the licensing body.
- If you paid by card, call the issuer today and open a dispute for services not rendered. The window closes; everything else waits.
- Send the demand letter by certified mail. It starts the clock the licensing body and the court will want to see.
- File the complaint with North Carolina Licensing Board for General Contractors. The fund claim hangs off it.
- Search PACER for the company. A bankruptcy filing stops the letters and the lawsuit and replaces them with a proof of claim.
- Answer any subcontractor notice in writing with proof of what you paid. Subs must serve notice on the lien agent named at permitting, and their lien on your property is limited to what you still owed the contractor when the notice arrived.
The paperwork, done
The Contractor Gone kit, $39, fills every letter and form above with your facts: the chargeback script, the demand letter with North Carolina's deposit rule cited, the licensing complaint, the fund application, the lien-defense letter, the proof of claim worksheet, and a checklist for hiring the contractor who finishes the job. What's in it, or run the check first; the answers carry into the kit.
Page written 2026-09-07. Rows marked verified were read on the agency page or statute on the date shown in the data; rows marked confirm are from general knowledge and should be checked with the agency. Spot an error? Email jon@homestillworks.com and it gets fixed the same day.