Preschool disenrollment tuition obligation - question for all you lawyers out there !

[Anonymous]

OP you knew what the terms were going in and you agreed to them. I'm not sure why you think you shouldn't have to. Perhaps the school director did a bit of "puffing" about the number of spots available or perhaps there really were only two spots available at that time. But would you really have not given the deposit and signed the contract if you knew there were actually six spots available? Either way you could have been shut out, so I bet you would have done it anyway.

Without having seen the contract, my guess is if they don't end up filling all 16 spots, you are obligated to pay the full amount. Whether or not the school pursues it is anyone's guess. If they do ultimately fill the class, you may still be obligated depending on the wording of the contract, but it's probably less likely that they will pursue it. Your best bet might be to negotiate a compromise, whereby you give them some amount of money without hassle or legal fees and in exchange they release you from the contract.

Where is the school located? If it's in VA, $7K would be under the jurisdiction of General District Court, a forum that would make it pretty easy and inexpensive for the school to file suit. In DC they would have to file in Superior Court, which is much more hassle, or cap the suit at $5K and sue in small claims.

[Anonymous]

Misrepresentation? Probably.

But it still does not give you contractual legs to stand on. That misrepresentation isn't related to the reason you want to cancel the contract.

[Anonymous]

Maybe 4 more dropped out? Or she flat out lied?

[Anonymous]

Op here - thanks for the advice. The school is actually in Connecticut if that makes a difference. It is a non-profit nature center.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You pretty much just have to pay, OP, or face a costly legal process. I was in a similar situation two summers ago, only the reason we backed out of the preschool was that my daughter was diagnosed with autism 3 months before school started so she went into the school system instead. We still had to pay the $9000 we had promised the private preschool. Believe me, that one hurt!

If you didn't fight it, how do you know it would be costly. If the school pursues it, I'd represent myself and make them fight it before I'd just hand the money over.

Not PP but I think she was referring in general to the fact that it is very often costly to defend a lawsuit, particularly with respect to a relatively low amount in controversy. Frankly, it is often more costly to go without a lawyer. I've litigated against unrepresented defendants, and even those who are intelligent and sophisticated often miss potential defenses and other things that can be used as leverage to negotiate a lower settlement.

[Anonymous]

OP I feel for you. I think directors at preschools regularly misrepresent how in demand their preschool is. Last winter, the director at my child's preschool sent out e-mails encouraging everyone to re-enroll quickly in order to reserve a spot for their child for this fall. They also (falsely) stated how they maintained a waiting list every year. After having been at this preschool for a couple of years, I saw that this was completely untrue. In fact, you could call them today and enroll because none of their classes have filled up for this fall. It's a scare tactic many preschools use to get parents to sign deposits and contracts. Unfortunately in this area, there is so much demand for preschools that they can get away with it. Fortunately my child will start K this fall so I don't have to deal with it anymore. Don't even get me started on the ridiculous "registration fee" money making scam that all preschools have. That's another story.....

I'm sorry this is happening to you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You pretty much just have to pay, OP, or face a costly legal process. I was in a similar situation two summers ago, only the reason we backed out of the preschool was that my daughter was diagnosed with autism 3 months before school started so she went into the school system instead. We still had to pay the $9000 we had promised the private preschool. Believe me, that one hurt!

If you didn't fight it, how do you know it would be costly. If the school pursues it, I'd represent myself and make them fight it before I'd just hand the money over.

Not PP but I think she was referring in general to the fact that it is very often costly to defend a lawsuit, particularly with respect to a relatively low amount in controversy. Frankly, it is often more costly to go without a lawyer. I've litigated against unrepresented defendants, and even those who are intelligent and sophisticated often miss potential defenses and other things that can be used as leverage to negotiate a lower settlement.

No one would hire a lawyer over 7 grand would they? I was just saying before she just pays the money, why not argue it first? She has nothing more to lose than the money she already owes. Would any good lawyer even accept a case this small?

[Anonymous]

If you signed the contract and the terms are specified, you have no legal recourse outside of the contract for not paying the tuition. As others have stated, your best bet is to try to negotiate some kind of compromise. As for those saying the school won't litigate to try to recover the money, that is probably true, but only because they do not have to, since you've already agreed to pay. They will bill you, and if you do not pay, they will most likely turn the debt over to a collection agency after a period of time and several notices.(Schools aren't in the business of chasing debtors) What you should be more concerned about is that it will be reported as an unpaid bill on your credit report, and that could cause a lot more problems in the long run.

[Anonymous]

Yes, maybe negotiate with the school and agree to pay some lesser amount or tell them you won't pay anything if they don't agree to the compromise. This is just not fair. I know all you lawyers argue that she signed a contract, but it was under misrepresentation without all the facts she now has. The school should be willing to compromise with her.

[Anonymous]

It stinks, but I disagree that it it "not fair". She read, understood, and signed a contract. She has had a change of heart, which she is entitled to, but which is not grounds for cancelling the contract.

Totally fair.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It stinks, but I disagree that it it "not fair". She read, understood, and signed a contract. She has had a change of heart, which she is entitled to, but which is not grounds for cancelling the contract.

Totally fair.

But the preschool gets $7,000 for doing nothing and can sell her spot on top of that. How is that fair?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It stinks, but I disagree that it it "not fair". She read, understood, and signed a contract. She has had a change of heart, which she is entitled to, but which is not grounds for cancelling the contract.

Totally fair.

But the preschool gets $7,000 for doing nothing and can sell her spot on top of that. How is that fair?

Surely the $7000 is in case they can't sell the spot. They would otherwise be out of luck if every other parent had already placed their kid elsewhere and thus they lost the tuition that they were counting on from the OP.

[Anonymous]

It isn't fair, but it's life. You make an agreement, you have to abide by it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here - unfortunately signed contract. Does anybody find it misrepresenting the school that the director told me there were only 2spots left when in actuality there were 6spots ?

No, things could have changed since then.

[Anonymous]

It was on you to have done your research and made your decision before you signed a contract. You were fully aware that if you pulled out, you'd be on the hook.

Our local (DC area) preschool requires a contract well in advance, you prepay and if you back out at any time, you're on the hook for the whole year. It can suck. They have their reasons for operating that way. We signed a contract for the first year. For the second, we were 50% sure we were going to move away and didn't sign the contract for the next year. We risked either losing it all if we moved, or if we stayed, not signing and having to find a new preschool because this one fills up. Anyway, my point is, we knew that it was a contract, we knew what the terms were, and we made decisions accordingly. You HAD to have known that there was risk in signing a contract with a place out of state you didn't know. You should have done all your due diligence before signing, researching and getting feedback. If you got caught up in wanting to get a spot and not miss out and have now changed your mind, too bad.

Depending on state contract law, they may well (and probably do) bear some burden to fill your spot (and then you'd still be liable for the advertising and costs of finding someone, and for the portion that they don't fill). But if they don't fill it, you're liable.