Housing non-profits + municipal agencies: our data is free to use
Contractor fraud, post-disaster rebuild scams, and unlicensed work cause measurable harm to vulnerable homeowners every year. Housing non-profits, city code-compliance departments, and tenant-advocacy groups are often the first line of defense. AskBaily publishes a complete 118-jurisdiction licensing dataset and a live regulatory-callout feed under Creative Commons so public-good organizations can use them without asking permission.
Who this is for
Screen subcontractor license status on build sites. Embed the license-verifier feed in affiliate intake software so every volunteer-build crew confirms active status before a hammer swings.
Run homeowner-education campaigns on how to verify a contractor before signing. Pull the regulatory-callout feed into your council newsletter or city-hall handout.
Keep the permit-guidance pages on your city website current with authoritative data. Our regulatory feed surfaces changes in minimum-insurance thresholds and permit-class updates within days of jurisdictional rulings.
Help renters document unlicensed contractor work by a landlord. Pull contractor records from state regulator endpoints directly and pair them with our complaint-pattern research.
Train HOA board members on what an active license looks like, what bond currency means, and how to verify before approving a multi-unit project. Our dataset + research pairs well with board-member onboarding decks.
Cooperative extension and public-policy programs teaching home-improvement literacy to first-time buyers, elderly homeowners, and post-disaster populations. Cite the dataset, fork the methodology, remix the findings.
Example use cases
A county housing authority runs a 12-week campaign teaching first-time homeowners how to verify a contractor's license before signing. Source: our license-verifier dataset + regulatory-callout feed. Output: a printed flyer + a city-website landing page + a Spanish-language social video.
After a major wildfire, a local housing non-profit runs outreach to displaced homeowners warning them about fly-by-night rebuild contractors. Source: our 2025 Eaton / Palisades rebuild dataset + CSLB suspended-license list. Output: a printed packet distributed at FEMA assistance centers.
An HOA management association onboards new board members with a 45-minute licensing-literacy module. Source: the regulatory-callout feed + our contractor-platform teardown. Output: an onboarding slide deck that every incoming HOA board member works through in their first 30 days.
License terms (plain English)
All AskBaily datasets at /data are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC-BY-4.0). That means:
- You can reuse. Copy, quote, excerpt, and redistribute the data for any purpose — including commercial and government publications.
- You can remix. Filter, aggregate, join with other datasets, visualize, and translate. Derivative works are allowed.
- You must attribute. Credit AskBaily with a link back to the source. Format: “AskBaily. (2026). [Dataset name]. https://askbaily.com/data/[slug].json”.
- You must note modifications. If you filter, aggregate, or otherwise change the data, note that in your citation.
There is no fee, no approval process, no partnership agreement, and no revocation clause. CC-BY-4.0 is irrevocable by design.
Frequently asked
Which organizations qualify as non-profit partners?
Any 501(c)(3), 501(c)(4), municipal government agency, county housing authority, tenant-advocacy coalition, HOA board, or academic extension program is welcome. You do not need to apply or prove status — the datasets at /data are already CC-BY-4.0, which permits public-good reuse by default. We flag this page as a non-profit partnership explicitly so housing organizations know they are the intended audience, not an afterthought.
Can Habitat for Humanity affiliates use the license-verifier data?
Yes. Habitat affiliates across the US frequently screen subcontractors on build sites and need to verify active-license status in the regulator database. The dataset at /data/license-verifier-coverage.json lists the regulator endpoint URLs, expected response shapes, and known gotchas for all 50 US states plus Washington DC, Puerto Rico, and 64 international jurisdictions. Your IT volunteer can build a license-check into your affiliate intake flow in one afternoon.
We are a city code-compliance department. Can we cite AskBaily datasets in our public-education materials?
Yes, with attribution. The Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license permits commercial and non-commercial reuse — including in government publications, city websites, and public-service announcements — provided you credit AskBaily with a link back to the source dataset. Many California cities already use our regulatory-callout feed to keep their permit-guidance pages current.
Will AskBaily help us co-author a public-education campaign?
We offer pro-bono editorial support for housing non-profits and municipal agencies running contractor-fraud awareness campaigns, post-disaster rebuild outreach, or HOA board-member education programs. Email [email protected] with your campaign brief. We can provide reviewed copy, data visualizations, and a version-pinned dataset snapshot you can cite. Response time is typically under one week.
Talk to the public-good desk
Email [email protected] if you want pro-bono editorial support, a version-pinned dataset snapshot, or help with an outreach campaign. Response time is typically under one week.