Legal Question in Business Law in Massachusetts

Legality of private school tuition agreement

We signed an agreement with a private school that stated that the fee was to preserve a space in the school and not for tuition. We were unable to come up with the money and so our child did not attend. The school is insisting we pay the full fee anyway. The agreement appears to be a transparent ploy to allow the school to get the money without providing any services in return. How can we determine if the agreeement is legal or enforceable? Can we force the school to return our deposit?


Asked on 11/16/00, 10:16 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Stuart Williams

Re: Legality of private school tuition agreement

I don't understand ... did you already pay all of the fee that you (may have) agreed to pay, or not?

Are they pursuing you for more or are they just trying to keep what you gave them?

There's an interesting rule of law which can work to your advantage here. They really didn't lose anything, presumably because they took someone from a waiting list to replaced your child ( 's tuition! ).

I'd rather see the agreement to comment knowledgeably. Please fax it to 617 527-1763 and I'll look at it. If it's not clear how much you already paid, write me with that information also.

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Answered on 11/27/00, 2:20 pm


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