Pennsylvania Attorney General’s consumer protection service for homeowners has been nonfunctional for nearly three months.

A critical service in Pennsylvania designed to assist consumers in verifying home-repair contractors has been unavailable for nearly three months, raising concerns among consumer advocates and state officials. The website and hotline, both operated under the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office, are essential resources as mandated by the Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act, enacted in 2008. This law aims to safeguard homeowners from potential fraud perpetrated by unlicensed contractors.

Since August 9, 2023, consumers have been unable to determine whether builders, plumbers, electricians, and other contractors are properly registered to operate within the state, a requirement for legal employment in Pennsylvania. The attorney general’s office attributes the disruption to an unexpected system outage that began in August. Spokesperson Brett Hambright confirmed that the office continues to process consumer complaints and has been issuing temporary registration numbers to aspiring contractors, though the main verification system remains down.

There are growing fears that the outage may be linked to a ransomware attack reported in August, which disrupted various key systems within the attorney general’s office, causing significant delays in civil and criminal cases. While Hambright has not confirmed a direct correlation, the timeline has raised suspicions.

Given the current climate of rising scams tied to home improvement services—particularly involving deceptive practices around solar panels, water filtration systems, and security installations—consumer protection advocates are particularly alarmed. Legal experts stress the importance of the registration system in helping consumers verify a contractor’s legitimacy, especially when financial commitments are involved.

State Representative Danilo Burgos has also expressed urgency regarding the situation, emphasizing the need for the service to be restored promptly. He noted an uptick in consumer complaints related to scams, attributing this trend in part to a perceived weakening of consumer protections at the federal level, an issue that came to the forefront during the Trump administration.

Under the Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act, contractors are obligated to provide written agreements before commencing any work and can only collect a deposit of 10%. The act is intended to ensure transparency and protect consumers from unscrupulous practices. Additionally, any violations of this act are automatically recognized as infractions of broader consumer protection laws.

As of now, the Pennsylvania Office of Administration confirmed that a recent outage affecting several state websites is unrelated to the previously mentioned ransomware attack, attributing it to issues affecting Microsoft services. Stakeholders hope that these issues will be resolved swiftly to restore vital consumer protections and improve the overall trust in the home improvement sector.