Unlicensed contract work

I live in Maryland. I have a signed contract between myself and an apparently unlicensed guy who was going to do a side job for me - working on my bay window repairs. I came to know him from his roofing work he had done in our neighborhood, and he had taken side jobs for non-roofing related things from several neighbors. We signed a contract for $800 for him to do repairs on my box bay window ($300 down, $500 on completion)- signed 12/12, with work to be done 12/15. On that day, no show, no call. He called on 12/16 saying he had been tied up, but would be here 12/21 to do the job. He cashed our deposit check on 12/17. He didn't show or call on 12/21. After numerous repeated attempts to reach him, leaving messages every time, he finally called on 12/28, saying he would be here to do the work the next day. We declined, said we wanted our deposit back. He agreed after some arguing, then said he would be by the house the next day at 1:00 to return the check. Surprise surprise, he's a no show. We are prepared to take whatever action necessary to get our money back. What recourse do we have? The Maryland Home Improvement Commission? help!