Legal Question in Consumer Law in California

Requirement to Sign a Release to Receive Reimbursement

I purchased a new home in December of 2002. It required extensive repairs, some of which were performed by the builder, and some by us or not at all. After negotiations, we reached a written agreement with the builder to reimburse us for repairs which were not made, as well as compensate us for inconveniences suffered during the repairs that were made. The amount we have mutually agreed upon totals slightly less than $7000.00. The builder is requesting that we sign a General Release before they will give us our money. This was never mentioned to us prior to our asking for the reimbursement. In addition, the General Release includes a clause indicating that we will ''waive all rights and benefits they may have now or in the future under Section 1542 of the Civil Code of California.'' We asked them to remove that clause, but they have refused and are still refusing to give us the money until we sign the release. We feel as if we are being blackmailed into signing the release in order to get our money. Can the builder legally require us to sign the release in order to receive our money, or are there other steps we could take to get them to live up to their earlier agreement?

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