Legal Question in Construction Law in California

If this is for a residential roofing project, the contractor may be violating the law by demanding a deposit that exceeds what is allowed ($1,000 or 10% of the contract price - whichever is less). Additionally, the contractor may be violating the law by requiring a payment without work having been performed or materials having been delivered. If the project is commercial, the deposit and down payment should have been part of the agreement, so we would need to know what the contract says in terms of when payments are due and how much is due.

In either scenario, you will have options depending on the contract terms and how you would like to proceed. In order to provide some direction, we need more information.