Legal Question in Business Law in California

Re: signing a contract

OK, to start, normally as soon as you sign a contract you're obligated. There is no general right to rescind (cancel) a contract within 3 days or any other timeframe. This right exists in a few specific situations such as real-estate timeshares, door-to-door sales, dental services, weight loss plans, emergency/disaster repair services, sales at "seminars", dating services, endless-chain schemes, and maybe some others I'm not aware of. The mentioned contracts often but not always are subject to rescission within three days.

Therefore, the subject matter of your contract and the circumstances of signing are important to know in determining whether you have (or had) a right to rescind.

Further, there are some statutory and court-policy issues connected with fine-print conditions buried in pre-printed, fill-in-the-blanks agreements that are presented on a take it or leave it basis rather than freely negotiated. Such contracts are generally valid but subject to close scrutiny for things that are unfair.

Finally, although a party to a contract is presumed to have read and understood it, judges know this doesn't always happen. That, combined with the principle that a fraudulent or negligent misrepresentation as to the contents or effect of a legal document, followed by someone's reasonable reliance on that misrep., makes the contract voidable, gives you a decent argument that the contract shouldn't be enforced against you.

In order to avoid the cost and hassle of litigating, I would advise taking the contract back to the other party and telling them you want out because you think you were misinformed by their salesperson. If this doesn't work, make a written complaint and keep a copy, expressing your intention not to pay and that you regard the so-called contract as void.

The face amount of the contract is under $2,400. If you notify the service provider promptly, their damages should be very low. Any suit against you is likely to be in small claims and the chances of winning are pretty good and probably a better bet than paying $2,000 plus for something you don't want.

Nothing in this advice is a guarantee you won't be sued nor a prediction that you will win. I'm only saying that, based on your question, if you can't negotiate your way out of the contract it is a better bet to not pay--after notification to the vendor--than to pay for something useless.