What does a "Critical" verdict on Groundcheck mean?

Critical is Groundcheck's strongest negative verdict. It indicates that the contractor's public records contain at least one signal so strong that proceeding presents a high probability of project failure, fraud, or financial loss.

Triggers for a Critical verdict include any of:

1. License revoked, suspended, or bar in place. The state board has affirmatively terminated or restricted the contractor's license. Hiring an unlicensed-by-discipline contractor exposes you to fraud, no insurance coverage on the work, permit failures, and zero recovery options.

2. Active Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing within the last 12 months. The contractor is insolvent. Money paid to them may be clawed back to the bankruptcy estate. The contractor has no resources to complete the project.

3. Three or more mechanics' liens filed against the contractor in the last 24 months, with multiple open. The contractor has a documented pattern of not paying subcontractors and suppliers. Your subs will not get paid; they will lien your property.

4. Phoenix pattern. Multiple LLCs at the same address within 5 years, with shared officers, with the prior entities dissolved after lawsuits or complaints. Highest-confidence fraud signal.

5. Multiple Willful OSHA citations or a pattern of Serious citations with worker fatalities. The contractor is unsafe at a level that predicts injury on your property.

6. Mismatched entity. The license claims a business name that does not exist at the Secretary of State, or the qualifier on the license does not match the person quoting the job. This is unlicensed work under a borrowed license number.

7. Federal SAM.gov debarment. The contractor has been debarred from federal contracting, which typically follows fraud or major regulatory violations.

8. Pattern criminal fraud filings. State AG has filed pattern fraud charges against the entity or its principals.

9. Out-of-state operation in a storm-affected area with recent (less than 90 days) LLC formation. Storm-chaser signature.

What to do when you get a Critical verdict:

- Do not sign the contract. - Do not pay any deposit. - If you have already paid, demand a refund and run the recovery sequence (certified-mail demand, credit-card chargeback, bond claim, state board complaint). - Report to your state Attorney General's consumer protection division. Critical-verdict patterns aggregate into criminal fraud prosecutions. - Find a different contractor and run Groundcheck on them.

Edge cases:

- A single old mechanics' lien from 4+ years ago that has been satisfied: does not trigger Critical. Likely Conditional or Clear depending on context. - A Chapter 7 bankruptcy 4+ years ago with full discharge: usually Conditional. The contractor has had time to rebuild; check for new lien or judgment activity since. - A revoked license that was later reinstated: depends on the discipline reason. Read the underlying CSLB or ROC documents.

Why Critical is not "Caution":

- Caution means "proceed with elevated risk and additional protections." - Critical means "do not proceed." There is no level of contract protection that mitigates the underlying signal. A phoenix contractor will not be deterred by a milestone payment schedule.

Groundcheck (earthmove.io/trust) returns Critical verdicts conservatively. The most common driver is multi-lien pattern (subs filing liens against the contractor), followed by phoenix pattern, then active bankruptcy, then license revocation. The verdict includes the specific records driving it, with citation links to verify at the source.