CONTRACTORS - HOME IMPROVEMENT;

You wanted to know how many people have been helped by the Home Improvement Guaranty Fund and what is its annual outlay.

SUMMARY

The Home Improvement Guaranty Fund was established in 1988 and began to collect fees in FY 1988-89. The establishing legislation capped the fund at $ 750,000 and required any excess revenue to be deposited into the General Fund. The fund did not reach its cap in the first fiscal year, but it has each year since then. The excess has been deposited into the General Fund each year since FY1989-90. PA 94-68 required the first $ 150,000 of excess funds to be deposited into the Consumer Protection Enforcement Fund. This amount was raised to $ 400,000 in Fiscal Year 97-98 (PA 97-129).

GUARANTY FUND COLLECTIONS AND PAYOUT

Table 1 shows the amount collected by the guaranty fund, the interest earned, the amount paid out of the fund to consumers, the amount transferred to the enforcement fund, and the amount deposited into the General Fund from Fiscal Year 1988-89 to the present. It also shows the number of consumers reimbursed by the fund since FY 93-94. The information was provided by the Department of Consumer Protection.

Table 1: Collections, Earnings, and Payout

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