How to Fill Out and File the Virginia DPOR Complaint Form

To file a DPOR complaint in Virginia, download the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation’s Complaint Form (F701-COMPFRM) from the agency’s website, fill in your information, the licensee’s information, and a description of what happened, attach your supporting documents, and send the package by email, fax, or mail. There is no filing fee. Before you start, understand the limit: DPOR can discipline a licensee, but it cannot order anyone to refund your money or fix bad work.¹

What Filing a Complaint Will and Won’t Do

DPOR’s regulatory boards can investigate a licensee, impose fines, require remedial education, suspend or revoke a license, and refuse to renew one. They cannot force the licensee to give you a refund, finish a job, or correct deficiencies. The form itself puts it plainly: “a regulatory board does not have the authority to require a licensee to return money, correct deficiencies, or provide other personal remedies.”¹

If you need money back, that generally means a separate civil lawsuit. For contractor losses specifically, Virginia has a Transaction Recovery Fund that may reimburse part of a court judgment; see the final section below.

Confirm the Person Is Actually DPOR-Regulated

DPOR only processes complaints against individuals or businesses under one of its regulatory boards. If the person you want to report doesn’t hold a DPOR license and isn’t required to have one, the agency generally can’t act. The commonly reported trades include contractors and home improvement specialists, real estate brokers and sales agents, barbers and cosmetologists, and architects, engineers, land surveyors, interior designers, and landscape architects. Other covered fields include asbestos and lead abatement, waterworks and wastewater operators, real estate appraisers, and cemetery and funeral services.

You can confirm coverage, and find a licensee’s license number, through DPOR’s online license lookup. Having that number ready speeds up intake because it lets staff immediately confirm jurisdiction. If an investigation reveals someone is working without a required license, DPOR can pursue criminal action or refer the matter to local law enforcement.²

Gather Your Documents First

Pulling your evidence together before you touch the form is the single biggest thing you can do to keep the case moving. Missing documentation is the easiest way to slow intake.

For any board, DPOR asks for copies of contracts, agreements, invoices, receipts, correspondence, and photographs. Copy both sides of every document. Text messages and emails that establish a timeline count as correspondence and should go in too. Beyond that baseline, specific boards want specific records:¹

Contractor complaints: the contract, proof of payment, building official documentation, and any notice of violation.
Real estate complaints: purchase contracts, listing agreements, settlement statements, canceled checks, disclosure statements, management agreements, and leases.
Appraiser complaints: a copy of the appraisal.
Land surveyor complaints: a copy of the survey.
Barbers and cosmetology complaints: medical records and photos of any injuries.

Filling Out the Form

The form has three sections. The interactive PDF lets you type into the fields, save a copy, and send it without printing. A static print version is on the same page if you prefer to fill it in by hand.

Section I: Who You Are and Who You’re Reporting

Enter your name, mailing address, business, cell, and home phone numbers, email, and, if you’re filing on behalf of a company, your company name. You’ll also give the address where the problem happened and the city or county.

The “Complaint Against” portion asks for the individual’s name, company name, address, phone numbers, email, and the type of license and license number. Fill in the license number if you can; this is where the online license lookup pays off.¹

Section II: Supporting Documents

Section II is where you list and attach the documents from your checklist. The form groups the requested items by board, so match your attachments to the right category.

Section III: What Happened

Describe what the licensee did or failed to do, when each event occurred, and why you believe it violated professional standards or board regulations. Stick to facts. If the text box runs out of room, attach a written statement.

At the bottom, you sign and date a verification statement: “I verify under penalty of law that the information provided is true to the best of my knowledge.” This is what makes the filing legal. An unsigned form won’t be processed.¹

How to Submit It

DPOR takes the completed form through three channels, all free:

Email: send the fillable PDF and attachments to ComplaintAnalysis@dpor.virginia.gov. Keep the total under 18 MB, or you’ll get a non-delivery notice and need to switch to mail or fax.
Fax: (866) 282-3932.
Mail: Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation, Compliance and Investigations Division, Complaint Analysis & Resolution, 9960 Mayland Drive, Suite 400, Richmond, Virginia 23233-1485.²

Filing Anonymously

DPOR will accept anonymous complaints, but it cannot guarantee anonymity because Virginia law makes complaints subject to public disclosure once a case closes. If you want to keep your identity out of the record, don’t submit electronically. Mail a paper form and leave personal information off both the form and any attachment.¹

There’s a real tradeoff. An anonymous complaint without enough information to support a regulatory or criminal violation won’t move forward, and without your contact details DPOR cannot reach you for clarification or more documentation. That alone can stall a case.

What Happens Next

The Compliance and Investigations Division first reviews the complaint to confirm DPOR has authority over the licensee and that the allegations, if true, would violate board law or regulation. Complaints outside DPOR’s jurisdiction stop there.

Complaints that clear intake move into investigation. Some matters resolve informally; others go to a dedicated investigator who gathers more evidence, and you may be asked to supply additional information. If the evidence shows probable cause of a violation, the file goes to the appropriate regulatory board for a decision, and you may be asked to appear and testify.¹

Investigations are document-heavy and can run several months or longer, depending on complexity and caseload. DPOR does not publish a guaranteed timeline. Possible sanctions include remedial education, a monetary fine, license suspension, license revocation, and non-renewal.² None of these put money back in your pocket.

If You Lost Money to a Licensed Contractor

Virginia’s Contractor Transaction Recovery Fund may partially reimburse you, but only after you’ve exhausted other legal remedies. The fund is a last resort, not a substitute for a lawsuit.³ To qualify, all of the following must be true:

Your contract with the licensee involved work on your Virginia residence, or you are a property owners’ association that contracted for improvements to common areas.
You obtained a court judgment against the contractor based on improper or dishonest conduct that occurred while the contractor was licensed.
You conducted debtor interrogatories and tried to collect on the judgment before turning to the fund.
You filed the Recovery Fund claim within 12 months after the judgment became final.

Employees, vendors, spouses or children of the contractor, other licensed contractors, and anyone in the construction or real estate development business cannot file a claim. The maximum payout is $30,000 per claim per transaction, and the total paid against any single contractor is capped at $100,000 per two-year period. If multiple claims against one contractor exceed that cap, the payouts are prorated.⁴

1
Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation. How to File a Complaint
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Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation. File a Complaint
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Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation. Contractor Transaction Recovery Fund
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Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code Title 54.1, Chapter 11, Article 2 – Virginia Contractor Transaction Recovery Act