Storm contractor rules in Vermont: land improvement fraud that names tree work, home solicitation cancellation and consumer penalties

This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here. The wider picture is on the storm contractor rules page. Every row is statute text. The sections read set no state contractor licence, which is different from saying none exists: no official page on one was read for this page on October 9, 2026.

The sections in one table

Section	What it says
13 V.S.A. 2029(a), land improvement	Land improvement means construction, paving or improvement of driveways, sidewalks, trails, roads or other landscape features; site work including grading and excavation; "the limbing, pruning, cutting, or removal of trees or shrubbery"; and forestry operations, including moving trees, shrubs or timber off-site. It covers work with or without a connection to a residence. Home improvement means work on a building used as a residence, including roofs
13 V.S.A. 2029(b), the offense	A person commits the offense by entering a contract of US$1,000.00 or more with an owner, or several contracts of US$2,500.00 or more in the aggregate with more than one owner, and knowingly failing to perform and then failing to refund, follow an agreed plan for completion or pay when the owner asks; misrepresenting a material fact about the contract terms or the condition of the property; or using an unfair or deceptive act or practice to induce a contract or a change to its terms
13 V.S.A. 2029(b)(4), state of emergency	During a declared state of emergency, charging for goods or services related to the emergency a price that exceeds two times the average price, where the increase is not attributable to the additional costs of providing them, is within the offense
13 V.S.A. 2029(d), penalties	Imprisonment of not more than two years, a fine of not more than US$1,000.00, or both, where the loss to a single consumer is under US$1,500.00. Imprisonment of not more than three years, a fine of not more than US$5,000.00, or both, for a loss of US$1,500.00 or more, a loss to more than one consumer of US$2,500.00 or more, or a second offense. A second or later conviction under the unfair or deceptive act ground in subsection (b)(3) carries up to five years, a fine of not more than US$10,000.00, or both
13 V.S.A. 2029(c) and (e)	The Attorney General places a convicted person on the Home Improvement and Land Improvement Fraud Registry. A person sentenced on a second or later offense may work in this field for pay only for a company that has no violation and is not run by family, household members or business associates, or after filing a surety bond or irrevocable letter of credit of not less than US$250,000.00 with the Attorney General
9 V.S.A. 2451a(4), home solicitation sale	A sale or lease of goods or services with a purchase price of US$5.00 or more that is personally solicited or consummated at the consumer's residence or place of business or employment, at a seller's transient quarters, or wholly or partly by telephone. Excluded: sales after prior negotiations at a fixed retail business, and a visit the consumer asked for to repair or maintain the consumer's personal property
9 V.S.A. 2454(a), cancellation	The consumer may cancel until midnight of the third business day after signing or otherwise agreeing to buy. Notice by mail counts when mailed. A sale may not be cancelled if the consumer asked for goods or services without delay because of an emergency and the seller has begun substantial performance in good faith, goods cannot be returned in substantially the same condition, and the consumer's request is handwritten and signed
9 V.S.A. 2454(b) to (d)	The seller gives a completed receipt or contract copy with a boldface statement of the cancellation right, an attached Notice of Cancellation and an oral statement of the right, except where the consumer asked for emergency service. Within 10 days after cancellation the seller returns payments, and a seller who performed services before cancellation is entitled to no compensation
9 V.S.A. 2453, unlawful practices	Subsection (a) declares unfair competition methods and unfair or deceptive commercial acts unlawful, and subsection (b) says courts are guided by how section 5(a)(1) of the Federal Trade Commission Act is construed
9 V.S.A. 2458 and 2461	The Attorney General or a State's Attorney may seek an injunction and a civil penalty of not more than US$10,000.00 for each unfair or deceptive act or practice in commerce. A consumer who relies on a prohibited false or fraudulent practice may recover damages or the consideration given, reasonable attorney's fees and exemplary damages up to three times the consideration
9 V.S.A. 2461d, price gouging	Covers motor fuels, liquefied petroleum gas, fuel oil, kerosene and wood pellets for heating or cooking during a market emergency declared by the Governor for 30 days, extendable in 30-day periods. It does not name tree work

Where tree work appears

Vermont's fraud statute lists tree work by name: the land improvement definition covers limbing, pruning, cutting and removal of trees or shrubbery, and the emergency price test in the same section applies to goods or services related to a declared state of emergency. The statute sets a doubling test and not a percentage cap on rates. How a particular storm job fits is a question for the Vermont Attorney General.

Home solicitation sales and storm work

The cancellation chapter works on a US$5.00 floor and has its own emergency carve-out with a handwritten, signed request. For how other states treat tree work, see contractor licences for tree work. The scam warnings that attorneys general issue after storms are on the storm tree scams page.

Storm contractor rules in Vermont: land improvement fraud that names tree work, home solicitation cancellation and consumer penalties

The sections in one table

Where tree work appears

Home solicitation sales and storm work

Sources