Lady sign a contract for dancing lessons for her two children . $400.00 a month for five years. She wasn't allow to take the contract home and read the fine print.
Her husband then lost his job. She tried to get out of the contract. Dance studio said "No" In Florida there is a law, whereby you have three days, whatever reason to cancel a contract. This contract omitted this statute. Despite this the studio
Will no relent. Do you think the judge will favor this women in court?

That clause doesn't HAVE to be in the contract... did you try to cancel it in the three day period.. or did this happen after?

What the judge actually decides is anyone's guess... because if you didn't try to cancel within three days... then that is a legaly enforcible contract...

You will have to prove your income now isn't sufficient if you want to have a chance. Buyers remorse isn't enough reason.

They said all contacts written in the State of Florida must have this provision.
It was not in the contact she signed. So I guess it is up to the judge?

The 3-day law pertains basically to contracts signed in the residence of the consumer or in a temporary space rented by the supplier. It does, in general, not apply to contracts signed at a facility (for lack of a better word) or place of business.

This is another "law" which people pass along without understanding it.

No, it doesn't have to be in the contract because it doesn't apply.

Oh I see. Maybe that is why, he wouldn't let her take the contract home and read the small print. Very interesting.

If she took the check home and read the small print it wouldn't matter - the dance studio would have signed it on their premises, not at her residence.

The dance studio would have to come to her home and BOTH parties would have to sign it there in order for the 3 day rule to apply.

This is supposed to be FL Attorney General advice on the subject:
Florida Attorney General - How to Protect Yourself: The Cooling-Off Rule (http://myfloridalegal.com/pages.nsf/main/18c35b713adbd1ad85256cc90053b3bc!opendocument)

Very interesting information. Personally I would not sign anything. Until I took the contract or(Copy) 5 pages home and read it

Very interesting information. Personally I would not sign anything. Until I took the contract or(Copy) 5 pages home and read it

Hell, I have enough trouble signing a contract for ANYTHING that's more than a year in length.

Hell you can get a Bachelors Degree in only 4 years...

Personally I do not like signing contract. Buying a car is a pain in the ?
Even when a car salesman tell me he is a good christian , I have a feeling I am being hosed.

"2012 Florida Statutes
501.025 Home solicitation sale; buyer’s right to cancel.—In addition to any other right to revoke an offer, the buyer has the right to cancel a home solicitation sale until midnight of the third business day after the day on which the buyer signs an agreement or offer to purchase. Cancellation is evidenced by the buyer giving written notice of cancellation in person, by telegram, or by mail to the seller at the address stated in the agreement or offer to purchase. The written notice of cancellation given by mail shall be effective upon postmarking. The notice of cancellation need not take a particular form and is sufficient if it indicates by any form of written expression the intention of the buyer not to be bound by the home solicitation sale. Notice of a buyer’s right to cancel must appear on every note or other evidence of indebtedness given pursuant to any home solicitation sale. For the purposes of this section, unless a mortgage also creates the buyer’s promise to pay the secured debt, it is not an evidence of indebtedness."

Except that as I read this... they weren't soliciting in the home... this woman actually went to their place of business. Or am I just reading this wrong.

"501.021 Home solicitation sale; definitions.—As used in ss. 501.021-501.055:
(1) “Home solicitation sale” means a sale, lease, or rental of consumer goods or services with a purchase price in excess of $25 which includes all interest, service charges, finance charges, postage, freight, insurance, and service or handling charges, whether under single or multiple contracts, made pursuant to an installment contract, a loan agreement, other evidence of indebtedness, or a cash transaction or other consumer credit transaction, in which:
(a) The seller or a person acting for him or her engages in a personal solicitation of the sale, lease, or rental at a place other than at the seller's fixed location business establishment where goods or services are offered or exhibited for sale, lease, or rental, and
(b) The buyer's agreement or offer to purchase is given to the seller and the sale, lease, or rental is consummated at a place other than at the seller's fixed location business establishment,
..."

"2012 Florida Statutes
501.025 Home solicitation sale; buyer's right to cancel.—In addition to any other right to revoke an offer, the buyer has the right to cancel a home solicitation sale until midnight of the third business day after the day on which the buyer signs an agreement or offer to purchase. Cancellation is evidenced by the buyer giving written notice of cancellation in person, by telegram, or by mail to the seller at the address stated in the agreement or offer to purchase. The written notice of cancellation given by mail shall be effective upon postmarking. The notice of cancellation need not take a particular form and is sufficient if it indicates by any form of written expression the intention of the buyer not to be bound by the home solicitation sale. Notice of a buyer's right to cancel must appear on every note or other evidence of indebtedness given pursuant to any home solicitation sale. For the purposes of this section, unless a mortgage also creates the buyer's promise to pay the secured debt, it is not an evidence of indebtedness."- Chapter 501 - 2012 Florida Statutes - The Florida Senate (http://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2012/Chapter501/Part_I)

The problem I see is that OP does not say something like "Within the 3 days, I wanted to cancel, but I didn't try because I didn't know about the cooling-off period". Instead, she apparently reconsidered some time later than the end of the 3 days, and only because her husband lost his job. If he had lost his job during the 3-day period, she might have a case, except that, as previously mentioned, if this was signed in the dance studio it doesn't appear to apply.

If I were the judge I would have a hard time believing the story that they wouldn't let the woman take a copy home with her, until after it was signed, I assume.

This is a great help for people signing contracts.

I likewise read nothing that indicated she signed the contract in her home.

No because the studio would not let her take the contract home. She signed
The contract at the studio. I often wondered why the auto dealer would not let me take the contract home or to seek legal advice. He wanted me to sign the contract right there on the spot.

No because the studio would not let her take the contract home. She signed
the contract at the studio. I often wondered why the auto dealer would not let me take the contract home or to seek legal advice. He wanted me to sign the contract right there on the spot.

Doesn't matter where it was signed... the key part is where and how the solicitation took place.

I am assuming the dance studio wasn't going door to door getting people to sign up... unsolicited. Which is what that code is written for.specifically. Door to door salesmen.

If she found out about the studio anyplace but them knocking on her front door or THEM calling her in her home... then it means she sought them out and it changes everything.

THere is a world of differnce betweein someone walking up to you and talking you into something you weren't looking for... and you seeking out an service and contracting for it on your own initiative. A lot of people have discovered that after signing long term health club memberships and having buyers remourse months later. Breaking a contract can be expensive... you can't simply walk away without penalties most times.

Very Good



Doesn't matter where it was signed...the key part is where and how the solicitation took place.

I am assuming the dance studio wasn't going door to door geting people to sign up....unsolicited. Which is what that code is written for.specifically. Door to door salesmen.

If she found out about the studio anyplace but them knocking on her front door or THEM calling her in her home....then it means she sought them out and it changes everything.

THere is a world of differnce betweein someone walking up to you and talking you into something you weren't looking for....and you seeking out an service and contracting for it on your own initiative. A lot of people have discovered that after signing long term health club memberships and having buyers remourse months later. Breaking a contract can be expensive...you can't simply walk away without penalties most times.

She might get better results asking how much it would cost to be released from the contract, with her explaining why... otherwise its in their best interest to not let her walk away clean without any cost to her.

Doesn't always work... but sometimes it does... but make sure its all in writing with signatures... verbal agreement and a handshake will be hard to prove in a courtroom if it ever got to that point.

Smoothy, this is one of your finest.

Doesn't matter where it was signed...the key part is where and how the solicitation took place.
...

Actually, if you look at the statute I quoted earlier, said statute applies only if all of the following are true:


The seller asked OP to sign at a place other than at the seller’s fixed location;
The signed agreement was given to the seller at a place other than at the seller’s fixed location; and
The transaction is consummated at a place other than at the seller’s fixed location.

Actually, if you look at the statute I quoted earlier, said statute applies only if all of the following are true:


The seller asked OP to sign at a place other than at the seller’s fixed location;
The signed agreement was given to the seller at a place other than at the seller’s fixed location; and
The transaction is consummated at a place other than at the seller’s fixed location.


But, the seller did ask the OP to sign at the sellers fixed location, the signed agreement was given to the seller at their fixed location, and the transaction was consummated at the sellers fixed location.

That's what the OP is dealing with, not the dream world where the contract was signed somewhere else, but the reality that it was signed at the sellers place of business. So is it possible to give the OP advice based on the facts, and not based on what could have happened?

I see the point AK lawyer is getting at... exact wording is important, since she was trying to use this statute to claim an easy way out... and for this woman to be able to legitimately claim (the three day cooling off period) what she's trying to claim to get out of it... all three of those conditions would have to be true... not just one... not two... but all three... and in this case none of them apply. And there is no way shape or means she can use that statute to change her mind.

Her only real option is to offer to buy her release out of the contract for an agreed upon fee.. or technically they can take her to court to have it enforced and ruin her credit by reporting a delinquency and if they turn it over to a collection agency... a collection. And with that she'll never get a loan from a bank or credit union until its paid.

Yes my wife routinely denies loan applications for that very reason, no matter what their income is..

I see the point AK lawyer is getting at....exact wording is important, since she was trying to use this statute to claim an easy way out.......and for this woman to be able to legitimately claim (the three day cooling off period) what she's trying to claim to get out of it...all three of those conditions would have to be true....not just one...not two...but all three.....and in this case none of them apply.

I do understand that, but no one on this site has told her, from what I read, that the 3 day rule applies. In fact, everyone has told her that it doesn't. So I was confused why the law that doesn't apply, was being brought up, when it's already been made clear that it doesn't apply.

I do understand that, but no one on this site has told her, from what I read, that the 3 day rule applies. In fact, everyone has told her that it doesn't. So I was confused why the law that doesn't apply, was being brought up, when it's already been made clear that it doesn't apply.

Well I know I for one made a comment of the key part of it being where it was actually solicited where that was only one part of three that's required to happen before it applies. Where all three conditions HAD to be met or that statute did not apply at all. And thus the thing about legalese where specific words have specific meaning. Even if it might sound the same to Joe Average it really might mean very different meanings.

You know the old "close only counts when you are playing horse shoes and hand grenades" thing.

I guess because further answers seemed to imply she was trying to use a defense to weasel out of a legal contract that she signed where the entire pretense had no legal basis from the beginning.

Or maybe I'm just digging myself in a deeper hole.

The women feels she was misrepresented in this affair. She declares
The three day rule was not in written form anywhere in the contract.
Furthermore it was not disclosed to her verbally. Of course her opinion
Of being just a layperson is no exculpation of the law.

Sounds to me like its nothing more than buyers remourse and not representation at all... and she just doesn't want to honor something she entered into knowing what all was involved...

I've known too many people that thinks a personal inconvienience gives them the right to do anything they want... be it a lease... a mortgage or a contract.

And the fact that according to that statute... it never applied... because they apparently never solicite memberships outside of their place of business.

Naif of life. I guess

Pastor, do you not understand that the three day rule does not apply in this case?

"The women feels she was misrepresented in this affair. She declares
the three day rule was not in written form anywhere in the contract.
Furthermore it was not disclosed to her verbally. Of course her opinion
of being just a layperson is no exculpation of the law."

Pastor, you aren't "getting it." Whether the 3-day rule was disclosed does not matter unless she was approached AND signed the contract in her home. If she she approached the studio or the studio approached her OUTSIDE her home the 3-day rule does not apply. She could have taken the contract home, reviewed it, signed it there, taken it back - and the 3 day rule would NOT apply unless the dance studio basically knocked on her door first and asked her if she was interested in lessons.

For example, you go to a car dealership and sign a contract to buy a car. The three day rule does not apply, even if you take the contract home and memorize it and then sign it. You were not approached to make the purchase in your own home.

A book salesman comes to your house and sells you books. The three day rule does apply.

Does that it make it more clear?

This is been very enlightened subject for me. Thanks

This is been very enlightened subject for me. Thanks

But do you understand that the 3-day rule does not apply under these circumstances?