Kitchen deposits, progress payments, and the one exception

The deposit is the only money a contractor may hold before there is work to show for it, and the law puts a hard ceiling on it. One thousand dollars, or ten percent of the contract price, whichever is less. On a fifteen thousand dollar kitchen the ten percent figure is fifteen hundred, so the thousand dollar ceiling is the one that binds. On a six thousand dollar job the ten percent figure is six hundred, and that becomes the limit instead.

That cap is not buried in fine print. The statute makes the contractor print it in at least 12 point boldface, in these words.

THE DOWNPAYMENT MAY NOT EXCEED $1,000 OR 10 PERCENT OF THE CONTRACT PRICE, WHICHEVER IS LESS.

Once the deposit is set, every later payment is a progress payment, and the rule on those is simple. A contractor may not request or accept a payment that is larger than the work performed or the material delivered up to that point. Paying ahead of the work is exactly what the law is written to stop, because money paid ahead is money you cannot get back if the job stalls.

A good schedule of progress payments states each payment in dollars and cents and ties it to a specific piece of work, so that each release is something you can stand in the kitchen and see. A payment tied to a calendar date rather than to finished work is the line to question before you sign. The contract has to carry that schedule under its own heading.

There is a protection most homeowners never use because nobody tells them it is there. After you make any payment, if you ask for it, the contractor has to obtain and hand you a full and unconditional lien release covering the portion of the work you just paid for. Until those releases arrive, you are entitled to withhold every further payment.

That matters because of how liens work. An unpaid subcontractor or material supplier can record a lien against your home even after you have paid the contractor in full. The lien release is the paper that closes that door, one payment at a time. Ask for it every time you pay, and hold the next check until it is in your hand.

Three questions cover almost all of it. Is the deposit within the thousand dollar or ten percent ceiling, and if not, do they carry the bond or joint control that lifts it. Does each later payment name the work it pays for. And will they hand you a lien release for each portion as you pay. If you have signed, remember the money is not final for a few days yet, because you may still have a right to cancel. When you want a contractor who puts all of this in writing, we can match your Canyon Country kitchen with one.