Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Virginia

Karate Studio Suing for contract, but was medically injured

I joined a Karate studio and signed a one year contract. However, I discontinued after six weeks. I had a back injury and could not continue. A year later I was sent a letter by a colletion attorney requesting that I pay a fee of over $1000.00 I tried to contact the instructor @ the Karate Studio and explain the situation, but he would not return my phone calls and didn't respond to my certified letter. I requested that the collection att. send me a copy of the collection letter since it was sent to the wrong address, the person I spoke with told me I needed to pay, or else it would go to court and I would have to pay court costs and said incarciration was also a possibility. Do I have any defense? And if not, how can I settle at the lowest possible fee, since I did not attend almost any of these classes.


Asked on 8/24/04, 9:52 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Michael Hendrickson Law Office Michael E. Hendrickson

Re: Karate Studio Suing for contract, but was medically injured

You should very carefully scrutinize the terms of your one year contract to see if any of these might possibly provide a "legal out", so to speak,

from what is undoubtedly a contract of adhesion(boilerplate drafted by one with superior knowledge designed to victimize the one with inferior knowledge).

Regarding the threat of incarceration, you need not worry over this one since jailing folks for indebtedness went out when this country's constitution came in as the new law of the land around 1789.

Since, apparently, no one is offering you a reasonable way to settle this matter, you might want to consider telling it all to the judge(in the event you're sued) who might well lend a more sympathetic ear to your plight------and rule against these apparent bloodsuckers, accordingly.

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Answered on 8/25/04, 10:16 am


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