Can you accept full payment up front for a home improvement job?

Work it through

You're the contractor. Pick what you'd do, then see how each choice plays out.

1. AThank her for the trust but stick to the payment schedule — it protects both of you. Taking a full payment upfront creates risk for the homeowner and invites regulatory scrutiny
   Correct

   Taking the full price up front is illegal in Maryland even when the homeowner offers it. Business Regulation §8-617 caps any deposit at one-third of the contract price before or at signing — $15,000 on this $45,000 job. If your business hits trouble mid-project, the homeowner loses everything. Large upfront payments are one of the most common MHIC complaint patterns. A milestone-based payment schedule aligns payment with progress and protects both parties. It also demonstrates financial stability — you don't need their money to start.

2. BTake the full $45,000 — her money, her choice
   Illegal

   Business Regulation §8-617 bars a deposit of more than one-third of the contract price before or at signing, and the homeowner's consent doesn't waive it. Collecting $45,000 at signing is three times the legal limit, and exactly the pattern that generates MHIC Guaranty Fund claims. If anything goes wrong — you get sick, a subcontractor disappears, materials are backordered — the homeowner has paid $45,000 for an unfinished kitchen. This is how contractors end up on the news and in front of the Commission.