Former daycare calling in debt collectors for fees that they don’t deserve

[Anonymous]

I would get a new lawyer and at this point I would bring suit against them for payment of the fees while the daycare was closed and they were not providing services. Absolutely call their bluff- you paid for daycare services that they did not provide

[Anonymous]

Small claims court - not just to dispute the debt (breach of contract = they aren't providing services), but affirmative claims for violation of consumer protection / fair debt collection practices act. Go on the attack; make them fear statutory damages & paying your attorney.

Sounds like you need to consult a better/new lawyer who knows FDCPA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would just let them ding my credit score but I’m stubborn like that. (Unless you are planning to use credit soon to make a big purchase.) I recently had had a debt collector come after me for money that I owed a college from 1996 and paid 10 years ago. It’s about $5,000 and my credit took a hit of about 50 points, but within a few months has rebounded back to 800. Eff ‘em. I’m not planning to use my credit anytime soon.

Ha - I did something similar too. I have excellent credit and we had just bought a new house. We knew we wouldn’t need credit for a long time. Got dinged a bunch of points but years later it all evened put. After seven years it goes away anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks folks. Did pay the full final month in the tuition. They were attempting to retroactively reverse the discount for when they were closed. Honestly, one of the main reasons we left was that they attempted to make us sign a waiver that released them of any past present or future liability related to covid. We refused and we weren’t allowed to come back when they did reopen. That was our last straw. We decided to leave before they revised that unreasonable waiver. I truly think that since we weren’t even allowed in the building, we shouldn’t have to pay for it.

So, two things: 1) It is possible to add an addendum to a contract that’s binding between both parties but there has to be some showing of acceptance and agreement to be bound by both parties. So if the admin emailed you and said “here’s your new discounted rate” and you then went and paid the discounted rate, well hey, it looks like we have ourselves an agreement. To change the terms on you retroactively definitely seems pretty not kosher, but like another poster said, was there some provision in the original contract that required the last month to be paid in full? Or did it require you to pay extra if you withdrew with less than 2 weeks30 days’ notice (or whatever the withdrawal notification timeframe was)?

2) Maybe more importantly, are you saying that the daycare technically kicked you out of the daycare for refusing to be bound by the new immunity agreement? Because if so, hey! You’re off the hook—they broke their contract with you and you owe them nothing from that date on. (Did they notify you by phone or in writing that you weren’t allowed back? Some proof of communication would be helpful if you need to challenge this in court. Small claims court is probably a good way to deal with this. You don’t say what state you’re in but in DC, the limit is $5,000 in claims.)