At Stop-Them we have been working hard with our lobbyists to promote changes in congress that will lead to amendments that make running your business easier under the new contractor registration law.

When a bill is approved by congress and already signed into law by the governor it changes status from a 'Bill' to forever become known by its name as an 'Act' or 'Law.' While a Bill can still be redrafted and reintroduced to congress with the essential changes, once it is signed, our approach to changing it is to reintroduce the legislation as a 'stand-alone bill.' If passed, this stand-alone can be tagged as an amendment to the bill it references.

We are currently in the process of working to amend the Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act with an amendment in the form of a stand-alone bill which changes the language of Section 7 of the existing law. Section 7 lists 11 different voidable clauses which, when included in a home improvement contract, render the entire contract void and unenforceable, meaning bad news for you when you try to collect payment on it. Our proposed amendment changes Section 7 so that only the specific voidable clauses themselves are unenforceable, and the contract retains its legal integrity should they be mistakenly included. This closes a major loop-hole in the law that is otherwise sure to be exploited by deadbeat customers wishing to squelch on paying for work.

Click here to view the ammended text of the the Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act we're presenting to legislators in state congress right now!.

The legislation will soon be introduced, and is now in the Legislative Reference Bureau being put into "Bill Form." Our lobbyist in Harrisburg, Michael Caterino is currently working on gathering congressional cosponsors.

Any bill bearing the words 'consumer protection' in it's name is considered a no-brainer for congressmen. They view them as an easy opportunity to directly benefit their constituents, and would often not be caught dead voting against one.

HICPA passed the Senate without one negative vote, and the House had only 11 negative votes (obviously they were the only few who took the time to read the bill). Our goal is to use our influence to reeducate these congressmen as to the truly ghastly ramifications of HICPA for contractors like yourselves, consumers and the state economy as a whole.

Mr. Caterino has spent the past several months meeting with various congressmen throughout the state for this purpose. The key will be to seek a bipartisan approach. He feels a lot of enthusiasm even with the budget circus that is taking place in Harrisburg. Once approved, our bill will receive a draft number and be presented for debate in the Fall legislative session of congress.