Legal Question in Business Law in California

I own a commercial janitorial cleaning business. I have a business to business written service contract with a customer for commercial cleaning. The contract states, "In order to terminate this agreement, one party must provide written notice to the other party thirty (30) days prior to the desired termination date". My customer she did not need to send me a written cancelation in the mail, the email cancelation she sent was sufficient. Is this a true statement?
Thank you,

Asked on 7/17/14, 4:16 pm

4 Answers from Attorneys

Edward Hoffman Law Offices of Edward A. Hoffman

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"Written notice" does not mean written on paper, and it does not mean delivered by the U.S. Postal Service. If your customer sent you a written notice via email, I'd say it qualifies.

I might see things differently if I knew what else the agreement said. But that seems unlikely.

Answered on 7/17/14, 4:27 pm

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I agree with Mr. Hoffman. E-mail is almost universally accepted as being a "writing" under the law, unless a specific contrary provision is in a contract or a statute that applies to the situation.

Answered on 7/17/14, 5:06 pm

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Robert F. Cohen Law Office of Robert F. Cohen

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In addition to what the other attorneys say, I might suggest that, in the future, if you want mailed notice, you state in your agreement that notice of cancellation be by certified return receipt mail or overnight mail with the recipient's signature. In that way, there's no question that you received it and when, and vice versa.

Answered on 7/17/14, 5:53 pm

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