Can I recover from a contractor's license bond in California?

Yes. Every licensed California contractor must maintain a license bond (Business and Professions Code section 7071.6), and homeowners damaged by defective work or license-law violations can present a claim directly to the surety. Recovery is capped at the bond amount, shared among all claimants, and subject to its own filing deadline.

The contractor's license bond is a fund of last resort that many California homeowners never think to use. Every licensed contractor must maintain a bond with the Contractors State License Board (Business and Professions Code section 7071.6), in an amount set by statute and raised periodically. A homeowner damaged by a contractor's violation of the license law (including willful or fraudulent departure from accepted trade standards, abandonment, or misuse of funds) may present a claim directly to the surety company, whose name and bond number appear in the contractor's public CSLB license record. The limits matter: the bond is not insurance for every bad job, recovery is capped at the bond amount however large the loss, claimants share the same fund on larger failures, and an action against the surety must be brought within the period set by section 7071.11. The bond claim runs alongside, not instead of, CSLB discipline, contract damages, and small claims remedies, and sureties often prompt settlement.

Authority: Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 7071.6