Signed with a door-to-door window or siding salesperson? How to cancel in Pennsylvania

Updated November 10, 2026 · KeystoneProGuide editorial team

Can you cancel a contract you signed at your door?

Yes. If you signed a contract for windows, siding, doors or other home improvements worth more than $500, Pennsylvania's Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act lets you rescind it without penalty within three business days of signing, regardless of where it was signed. Two other laws add protections when the sale began with a visit or a call to your home. You do not need a reason, and you do not need the seller's agreement.

Which laws give you the right?

Three, and they overlap:

The home improvement act. Three business days from signing, for any home improvement contract over $500. The contract must include a notice of this right. The Attorney General says that if the notice is missing, the entire contract may be voidable even after the three days.
The Consumer Protection Law. For sales of $25 or more made as a result of contact with you at your home, in person or by phone, Pennsylvania's Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law gives three full business days after the sale. The seller must give you a completed contract in the language of the sales talk and in English, a bold notice of the right next to your signature, and two copies of a form titled "Notice of Cancellation". The period does not even start until you have been told of the right and given the forms.
The FTC's Cooling-Off Rule. A federal rule giving three days to cancel many sales made at your home, including when you invited the salesperson in. The FTC's own example is a door-to-door salesperson who talks you into a home improvement you are not sure you need.

How do you actually cancel?

The safest way satisfies all three laws at once:

Find the date you signed and count three business days. Under the FTC's rule, Saturday counts as a business day and Sundays and federal holidays do not; a sale on a Friday, with no holiday, can be cancelled until midnight on Tuesday.
Sign and date one copy of the Notice of Cancellation, or write a short letter if you were not given the form, saying you cancel the contract.
Send it to the seller's address by certified mail, return receipt requested, postmarked before the deadline, and keep a copy. The FTC recommends certified mail so you have proof of when you sent it and when it arrived.
If time is short, also tell the contractor directly, by phone or in person.

That last step is now enough on its own for the home improvement act. In May 2026 the Attorney General reported that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court held consumers can cancel within three business days by any means, by phone, in writing or in person, as long as the contractor has actual notice. The Consumer Protection Law's own text still speaks of written notice, which is why sending it in writing as well is the safest course.

What must the seller do after you cancel?

Return your money promptly. Under the Consumer Protection Law, the seller must, within ten business days of receiving your notice, refund all payments, return anything you traded in, and cancel and return any note you signed, ending any security interest in the deal. It must also tell you within ten business days whether it will collect any goods it delivered; if it does not collect them within twenty days of your notice, you may keep or dispose of them. The FTC's rule sets similar deadlines. You must keep any delivered goods available in good condition.

The law also protects the cancellation window from paperwork tricks. A seller may not misrepresent your right to cancel, and may not pass a note you signed to a finance company before midnight of the fifth business day after the sale.

Are there sales you cannot cancel?

A few. The FTC's rule does not cover sales completed at the seller's permanent place of business, sales made entirely online, by mail or by phone, or sales needed to meet an emergency. It also excludes the repair you asked a seller to come and do, though anything extra you buy during that visit is covered.

Pennsylvania's emergency exception is narrow. The right can be waived only on a printed "Emergency Work Authorization" card at least four by six inches, for a bona fide emergency on your property, where you contacted the seller, and only after you receive a written estimate. A salesperson who knocks on your door and hands you an emergency waiver for new windows is not describing an emergency the law recognizes.

How do you avoid needing to cancel?

Slow the sale down. The FTC lists sellers who knock because they are "in the area", who have materials left over from another job, or who press for an immediate decision, among the signs of a home improvement scam. Take the written estimate, check the registration number on the Attorney General's search, and compare it with another bid before you sign anything.

Calls are part of the same pattern. The Consumer Protection Law requires a telephone seller to say at the start who they are, that the call is a sales call, and what they are selling. You can also put your number on Pennsylvania's Do Not Call list online or at 1-888-777-3406, and file a complaint if telemarketing calls continue.

Where can you get help?

If a seller refuses to honor a cancellation, complain to the Attorney General's Bureau of Consumer Protection, and report Cooling-Off Rule violations to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Before the next contract, read what Pennsylvania requires and scams to avoid. Listed businesses are on the exterior remodeling directory page.

Sources

2008 Act 132 (Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act), Pennsylvania General Assembly
PA Supreme Court Upholds Consumer Right-to-Cancel Home Improvement Contracts Within Three Days Regardless of Medium, Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General
Frequently Asked Questions: Home Improvement Contractor Registration, Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General
1968 Act 387 (Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law), Pennsylvania General Assembly
Buyer's Remorse: The FTC's Cooling-Off Rule May Help, Federal Trade Commission
How To Avoid a Home Improvement Scam, Federal Trade Commission
Do Not Call List, Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General