The form on the bonnet
Federal law gives you three days to cancel. It also lets you sign that away in your own handwriting.
A contract signed at your home for $25 or more generally carries a right to cancel within three business days under 16 CFR Part 429. The same rule contains an exception: a buyer may waive it, but only by writing a dated, signed statement in their own handwriting describing the emergency.
(844) 595-2218 Call about water damageConnects you with an independent contractor about new work. Calls may be recorded.
What the rule covers
Sales made at the buyer home, or at locations other than the seller usual place of business, where the purchase price is $25 or more at the residence and $130 or more elsewhere. A restoration contract signed on your kitchen table on the day of a flood sits squarely inside that description.
The seller has to give you a notice of cancellation in the same language as the contract. The official text sets out the form of words, and a contractor who does not hand you one has already departed from the rule.
The handwritten waiver, and why it exists
The rule permits a waiver where the buyer needs goods or services immediately to meet a genuine emergency. It is deliberately awkward: the buyer must write a separate dated and signed statement in their own handwriting, describing the situation requiring immediate remedy and expressly waiving the right to cancel within three business days.
The awkwardness is the safeguard. Nobody writes that out by accident, and a pre-printed box you tick does not meet the description.
If someone asks you to copy out a paragraph they have written for you, that is worth a pause. The rule asks for your description of your emergency, not theirs.
What to do when it is put in front of you
Separate the two decisions. Authorising emergency extraction and drying today is one thing; signing a full restoration and rebuild contract is another, and it does not have to happen in the same hour. Many disputes in this trade start with both being signed together while the floor is still wet.
State law sometimes gives more than the federal minimum, and where it does, the more generous rule applies. Your state consumer protection office will know.
Keep every document you sign, including the notice of cancellation, photographed on your phone before anyone leaves.
Whose signature, and on what
The right belongs to whoever signed, which is not always who you would expect.
- 01You own and live here. Authorise mitigation, defer the rebuild contract, and keep the cancellation notice. You lose nothing by reading it tonight.
- 02You own it and rent it out. A tenant cannot sign a building contract on your behalf. If a contractor took their signature, that is a problem for the contractor.
- 03You were not there. A contract signed by a family member who does not own the property is worth checking rather than assuming binding.
- 04You already signed and regret it. Count business days from the date on the contract and send the cancellation in writing within them. Keep proof of sending.
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What to ask before you agree to anything
Ask these of whoever turns up. A contractor who answers them plainly is the one you want; a contractor who will not is telling you something.
- 01Is this document a contract for the whole job, or authorisation for emergency work only?
- 02Where is my notice of cancellation, and is it in the same language as the contract?
- 03Are you asking me to waive the three-day right, and why today?
- 04What exactly will you do if I authorise only mitigation now?
- 05Does anything in here assign my insurance benefits to you?
- 06What licence do you hold, and where can I look it up?
Have this ready before you call
Three facts move the first minute past the formalities: what happened, when it started, and whether water is still moving. These add the detail that decides what gets loaded on the van.
- Every document put in front of you, photographed before signing
- The date and time of signing, written down
- Whether you own the property yourself
- Whether anything was described to you as urgent and by whom
- Your insurer and claim number if one is open
- The state, since some give more than the federal three days
Connects you with an independent contractor about new work. Calls may be recorded.
Where these figures come from
Every number on this page is published by someone other than us, and each link goes to their own text rather than to a summary of it.