Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

I attended a truck driving school for the price of $4500. I agreed to make a down payment of $500 and then pay monthly for the next year. Following my graduation from the school, I got my commercial license but did not find a job that pertains to that license. So for the next year I was supposed to pay monthly for this class. I had a couple of horrific things happen in my family and completely forgot about these payments. So fast forward to one year later on January 22 I received a text from the school's owner telling me that if I did not pay $500 by the 24th which is three days later then I would be taken to court. I told him that I could pay 100 on the 24th and then whatever as possible after that. He told me that would be fine do whatever you can. So when Friday came around I called them to make a payment and they took my credit card information and said they would make that payment but they would call me if there were any issues. 30 minutes later I received a call saying that they would not be able to process my payment and I would be getting a call from another person shortly. When the guy called me he said that I could pay $150 and I would be okay for the month. He then put me on hold and came back to tell me that he needed to call me back so that he could discuss this matter with somebody else. Long story short, I finally got a hold of the program director and he told me that I could pay my payment of $276.08 and that that would keep me out of court. So reluctantly I agreed to pay that much. He then put me on hold for five minutes and then came back and said that that would not be enough to keep me out of court. So he told me to save that money for court cost because I would have to go to court now. Is it legal for them to deny my payments?


Asked on 1/26/14, 6:12 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Terry A. Nelson Nelson & Lawless

Legal or not is not the question. You've already been told they are going to court. The question is: can we win this in court. If you don't know how to represent yourself effectively against an experienced attorney intending to 'beat you', then hire an attorney who does, who will try to get a decent outcome through motions, negotiations, or take it to trial if appropriate. Your attorney may also be able to negotiate a quick settlement and avoid all those litigation costs for you.

If serious about hiring counsel to help in this, and if this is in SoCal courts, feel free to contact me. I�ll be happy to help fight and get the best outcome possible, using whatever defenses and sympathies there may be. I�ve been doing these cases for many years.

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Answered on 1/27/14, 11:29 am


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