Outstanding Liabilities: How They Work

This section describes how outstanding liabilities with government agencies can affect your license and how to resolve a liability on your record.

The Employment Development Department, Department of Industrial Relations, or the Franchise Tax Board can notify CSLB of outstanding final liabilities owed by a contractor. A dishonored check submitted to CSLB is considered an outstanding liability (Business and Professions Code section 7145.5).

To resolve an outstanding liability:

  • You will receive a 60-day notice to resolve the outstanding liability from CSLB.
  • Submit all necessary documentation to show resolution of the liability to CSLB's Judgment Unit:

    Contractors State License Board
    Attn: Judgment Unit
    P.O. Box 26000
    Sacramento, CA 95826

  • A confirmation notice will be sent to the contractor when the acceptable documentation has been received.
  • If CSLB has not received any information about a resolution, your license will be suspended until the outstanding liability is resolved.

Tip symbolTIPDo not wait until the last few days before your license is suspended to try to resolve the liability. Last-minute problems could delay the processing of your paperwork until after the deadline.