Arizona Registrar of Contractors explains payout limits following Sun State Pools claims

FOX 10 sat down for an exclusive one-on-one interview with Arizona Registrar of Contractors Director Tom Cole this week.

The AZ ROC is not able to comment on active investigations, nor can the agency address specific claims from consumers. However, the agency says it's actively fighting to improve reimbursement and financial recovery for homeowners while staying within its jurisdiction.

What they're saying:

"The ROC sits in a unique place. We are a consumer advocacy agency, but we're also here to make sure that contractors receive due process," Cole says.

He says the agency operates as a middleman between consumers and contractors.

"There is an extensive process for folks to qualify for a license in construction in Arizona," Cole said.

The qualifications include four years of experience in the scope of work an applicant is applying for, as well as for at least one member of the qualifying party to take and pass a number of exams.

When a complaint is filed by a homeowner, the ROC is responsible for investigating the claim, conducting job site inspections, and tallying claims against a particular license holder.

"If a license receives a complaint, the first thing we do, it goes into a queue for our investigators. Those are assigned by zip code, and they fluctuate based on caseload," Cole said.

The ROC will reach out to the license holder and explain there has been a complaint against their license, ask them if they are familiar with the customer or subcontractor that complained, and that is where the reconciliation begins as the agency tries to get the parties talking.

The complaint process often culminates with a directive from the ROC investigator if there are issues that need to be fixed on a particular job site.

"And after evaluation, multiple opportunities to fix the problem, there are times when a summary suspension or revocation become necessary," Cole said.

Local perspective:

That was the case with Scottsdale-based Sun State Pools. As FOX 10 has previously reported, 85 complaints were filed against the LLC between September 2025 and June of this year. The ROC revoked Sun State's license on June 25, and Attorney General Kris Mayes' office has opened a criminal investigation against the company.

Cole says clients can track a contractor's history of complaints dating back two years on the ROC's website.

"If you talk about a gray area, there's an area from the point where they may have no complaints, we have complaints on file, those complaints are being investigated, that's the area in between a license in good standing, active license in good standing, to one that might have discipline against it," Cole said.

Clients who filed complaints against Sun State Pools are encouraged to file a claim with the Residential Contractors' Recovery Fund.

The catch? The fund can provide a maximum payout of $30,000 per homeowner and a maximum of $200,000 per residential license.

"$30,000 seems like a lot until you start a construction contract. Average pools are double that if not quite more," Cole said.

Homeowners FOX 10 interviewed during this investigation report being out tens of thousands of dollars, with ROC claims having been canceled in the past for various reasons, forcing them to re-file claims after work was still not completed.

Cole says the agency's hands are tied when it comes to upping the allotments in the recovery fund.

"The awards are capped by statute. So the legislature determined what those numbers should be, and that was signed into law, and that was signed into law a number of years ago," Cole said.

Dig deeper:

However, the ROC is actively supporting changes to that law.

"That's a number that we think reasonably could be increased and we've done some stress tests on the system and we will again propose legislation in the next legislature to get those increased, but talk to your lawmakers, those are the ones that are ultimately going to be the deciders," Cole said.

In the meantime, contractors like Sun State Pools cannot be issued another license until the recovery fund is reimbursed the amount that was paid.

"So that fact will follow the corporate officers, the qualifying party, owners of that company," Cole said.

Cole says over the past year, the recovery fund has paid out between 50% and 60% on the valid claims received, which he acknowledges does not typically make homeowners whole.

The recovery fund claims are taken in chronological order and, in cases like with the Sun State Pools license, they are often distributed as pro rata claims, which means they are distributed proportionately among multiple claimants based on the size or value of their original claims.

What's next:

Cole says consumers should always check the ROC's website before trusting a construction company at their word.

Right now, Cole says the agency is working on an average of 90 days to process recovery fund claims, but before the agency can determine how much they are going to issue of that $200,000 cap and how to distribute it fairly, each claim has to be investigated, which leads to longer wait times.

FOX 10 is still waiting for a comment from Sun State Pools.

What you can do:

Click here if you need to file a formal complaint with the Arizona ROC.

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