Illinois Contracts Legal Questions

According to the contract, it renewed for another 2 year term when it was not cancelled in 2020, and will now run until 2022, at which point you can cancel it if you give proper notice 60 days before it ends.  In NY, however, there are some contracts in which automatic renewals are unenforceable.  I don't know if it is the same in Illinois.... Read More

The lease would not be void just because it has a minor glitch like having a 6/31 termination date, but it is possible that having a “rodent problem”, depending on how severe it is and how long it’s gone in, might be a material breach of the lease entitling you to rescind it. ... Read More

If your client breached the conract, of course you can sue her for the damages you suffered due to the breach.  However, nothing you've written indicates that there was any breach, unless your contract has a definite term, requires notice. or limits her right to terminate in some other way.... Read More

"Fruit of the  poisonous tree" deals with evidence which has been derived from other evidence which was improperly obtained. I don't completely understand your question because you can't be liable on a contract to which you, or someone acting on your behalf, did not agree, e.g. sign.  When you say that you are the "primary", do you mean the primary driver (which wouldn't make you responsible for the loan) or the primary borrower, which your wife oculdn't do legally without your permission.  So either your wife signed on your behalf as your agent, or she forged your signature.  If so, and the dealership knew that your wife didn't have authority to act for you and/or knew about the forgery, you are not liable on the loan.  If the dealership did not know, you may still be lieble, but can sue your wife for any payments you have to make.  Practically, of course, the right to sue your wife is probably not worth much, especially because if she had the money to pay you she would presumably have paid the loan in the first place. Another major practical problem is that if you, knowing about this issue, don't promptly complain and inform the dealership that you never agreed to this and your wife had no authority to agree for you, you may be deemed to have ratified the agreement and become liable.  On the other hand, if you do complain, you may get your wife in serious trouble, including with the police. Another issue is that the loan may have been assigned to a party who had no reason to know of any problems with it, in which case you could still be liable on it, although again you could sue your wife (and also the lender, if it knew about the issue).... Read More

Generally, unless you have a contract which allows it (e.g. a mortgage) or have enhanced the value of the propery you seek to lien with your goods or services (e.g. a mechanic's lien) you can't place a lien on property until and unless you have obtained a judgment against the debtor.  Right now all you have is a claim that you are owed $2,500.  Until there is a court judgment determining that you are right, it's only a claim, which the alleged debtor may contest.... Read More

If you lend your friend your car and "something bad happens", you will get sued.  You may not lose, but there is no way to avoid getting sued. You can get your friend to enter into a contract agreeing to indemnify you for any damages you suffer if you are sued due to an accident occurring when she is driving your car, and agreeing not to sue you, but that won't stop you from getting sued by a third party, or help you if your friend is unable to pay (it may not stop your friend from suing you either as she likely would claim fraud if you didn't disclose something wrong with the car and that caused the accident).... Read More

It may.  Anyone offering her financing will consider what obligations she already has.  The more obligations she has, the less ability she will have to get credit, or if she does, it may not be on the same favorable terms as shw would have been offered if she was not obligated on your car loan.... Read More

You can sue for the return of the money, but from what you've written it sounds like the "company" is out of business.  If the "company" with which you contracted was a corporation, llc, or other independent legal entity, as opposed to a sole proprietorship or general partnership, you may be out of luck.... Read More

I lease a car.  My lease has a buyout amount in the lease contract, and so does every automobile lease I've ever had.  The buyout price is whatever is negotiated between lessor and lessee.  You can try to negotiate a better buyout price at the time you lease, or you can offer a lesser amount to purchase at the end of the lease and see whether the leasing company will take it.  Unless the leasing company treats people differently based on some statutorily prohibited reason (race, religion, gender, etc.), there is no reason that one person can't negotiate a better deal than another.... Read More

You have not given enough information for me to give you a good answer. If you "co-signed" on a loan, that suggests that you signed the loan to lend your credit to a borrower so that the creditor would give the borrower the loan. A co-signor is an accommodation maker, which is like a guarantor. If the borrower defaults on the loan, the creditor can come after the co-signor for repayment of the loan, and a creditor can collect from the co-signor directly. Your question, "how do I sue the other person for the balance" suggests to me that, perhaps, you are the lender/creditor or that the lender/creditor has already gotten payment from you, and now you are trying to be reimbursed from the borrower. The exact answer depends on which is the right scenario (or neither - maybe you see the writing on the wall and fear that the creditor will come after you). If the lender has not yet taken the borrower and/or you to court, you do not have any claim (yet) against the borrower. You should contact the borrower, however, and urge him/her to take care of the debt. If the lender has already sued, you would counter sue the borrower. If the lender has already collected from you, you would have to file a separate suit against the borrower. If you are the lender, then you need to send whatever notice is required by the loan documents, and then take the borrower to court if they don't pay. In any of those scenarios, I recommend getting the advice of an attorney and using an attorney to attempt to defend and/or pursue your claim.... Read More

I strongly encourage you to speak to an attorney and learn what options you have. Many attorneys will give a free initial consultation. Regardless of any other rights or obligations, he should not have control of your unemployment funds. I would consider seeking an order of protection if he has been threatening to you. The fact that he is still controlling your unemployment money may be reason, alone, to get an order of protection. You could go to the local state's attorney's office and talk with someone. If they do not think there is sufficient proof to get an order of protection, then you would have to talk to a private attorney. The state's attorney's office would not cost you anything.... Read More

Even with legal fees, you might not be able to do it. He would have to refinance with the bank to get your name off the loan documents. If your name is on title, the bank may be reluctant to remove you from the loan documents even if the bank would be willing to refinance in his name alone otherwise. If you were married, these things could be addressed in the family court. Since you were never married, your legal rights are limited to those of a partnership or simply a joint property owner (assuming you have an ownership interest). You could file a partition action (on the real estate) and force it to be sold. You would incur attorneys fees in the process, though they could be paid from the proceeds of the sale of the property; but the sale would be a "forced sale" which usually results in lower than market value return even without the legal fees.... Read More

I do even know where to begin to answer your question. What about having a lease would give you the right to sue the landlord (even if she is your mother) for repeating conversations? What does being on SSI have to do with anything? Maybe you should stop confiding in her if she cannot keep what you say to yourself. Your question is for Dear Abby; it is not a legal one.... Read More

Restrictive employment covenants are not favored in the law, but they will be enforced if they are reasonable in scope and are supported by consideration. A recent court case decided in June in Cook County has changed the landscape in this area. Even pre-employment covenants are now treated the same as post-employment covenants, requiring up to two years continued employment to be enforceable. If you have been at it for more than two years, they still must be reasonable in scope. You stated the geographical scope is 100 miles, the time scope is one year and the subject scope is the same curriculum. That may be reasonable. If you leave and teach at a school that uses a different curriculum, the covenant does not apply. They cannot enforce it if it does not apply. As long as the curriculum is different, then you should have no problems. If the curriculum is the same, then you will need to consider the reasonableness of the scope, and that may be a crap shoot. Frankly, I think one year is reasonable, but 100 miles is not reasonable, but I am not the person who would need to be convinced. If the school were to sue you, a judge would decide.... Read More

That depends on what the contract is for.  Some contracts, such as contracts to purchase real property, or contracts which can't be fully performed in a year, need to be in writing to be valid.  Also, if a written offer states that it can only be accepted in writing, than you would have to accept it in writing to form a contract (although the offeror could waive that condition).... Read More

The answer is, yes, if all of the elements of a contract exist. A contract exists when there is an offer and an acceptance. Acceptance can be demonstrated by any statement or action that indicates you have agreed to the terms of the offer. For instance, if your friend said, "I will teach you how to drive for $100 an hour"; and you say, "Let's start today"; there is an offer and an acceptance and a contract has been formed. I realize it is rarely that simple and straightforward. If you don't say "yes" but allow your friend to teach you to drive, the law will generally uphold your friend's right to be paid. In other words, acceptance could be signified by your actions, not just by a statement. Perhaps more often, there is no agreement on what the terms were. Your friend might have said, "I will teach you to drive for a $1000"; and you might have said, "That is too much"; but then you allow your friend to teach you to drive. There is probably no contract formed in that situation, but the law does not allow you to accept the services your friend provided without requiring you to pay for them. In that situation the quasi-contractual principles of unjust enrichment or promissory estoppel will likely apply. Unjust enrichment means that you have received something of value by which you would be unjustly enriched if you are not required to pay the value of what you received. Promissory estoppel applies if you induced your friend to give you something based on your promise to pay. Even if a contract was not formed (perhaps because the terms were uncertain), you will be required to pay what you promised if your friend relied on that promise to his/her detriment. The bottom line is: unless your friend offered to teach you to drive for free out of the goodness of his/her heart, you probably owe your friend something.  ... Read More

It is possible that you have some exposure to liability. If something goes wrong and anyone is injured or dies as a result of some defect in the software or even possibly some misuse of the software that could have been foreseen and avoided by instructions, warnings, etc., liability could be claimed against you. It would be good to have proper insurance against these things, especially if you are regularly developing software for application and use in the medical field (or other areas in which there is some likelihood of risk). You can also protect yourself to some extent by incorporating your business or organizing it as a limited liability company, except to the extent that any liability may be caused by your own negligence. Further, you can minimize your liability by a well drafted agreement with the buyer, careful instructions as to use and warnings as to misuse. It takes some time, money and effort to do these things, but they are worth it to protect yourself from catastrophic liabilities that could put you out of business and into bankruptcy. Developing a relationship with a good business attorney who can learn your business and help to identify and minimize potentially catastrophic liabilities is advised. It is like insurance: it can be expensive, and you do not know whether or when you need it; but when something happens, you will be glad you have it.... Read More

It sounds like a difficult situation for you, and I am sorry that you are being "left high and dry" as the saying goes. Based on the few facts you have provided, I am not sure there is any claim that you have. Was there any benefit you provided to your friend in exchange for the rent and expenses your friend has provided? Did you expect your friend to support you indefinitely? What were the terms of the offer to pay your rent and expenses. Was your friend doing you a favor? Or was there something in it for your friend. Without more details, it is impossible to assess whether you have a claim. If your friend was paying your rent and expenses out of the kindness of his heart, it is simply a gift from your friend to you. Without more facts, I do not see that you have any claim against your friend.... Read More

Whether the other party has a lawful right to deduct their attorneys from the payments depends entirely on the language in the particular agreement you signed. You should have an attorney review the contract and get an opinion whether the contract language allows them to do what they did. If they have taken liberties, a letter from an attorney may be enough to dispel of their notion that they are allowed to do it. On the business side of things, you may need to weigh the extent to which your future revenues depend on a good relationship with the other party, though it sounds like the relationship has already begun to go south. This answer is not intended to establish an attorney/client relationship and is not intended to be relied upon for legal advice in your particular situation. You need more specific, detailed advice from an attorney who has the opportunity to read the contract and gather any additional facts that might affect the opinion.... Read More

You have not provided enough information to give you a good answer, so all I can say is maybe. If your reason for wanting to get out is simply that you have changed your mind, then the answer is probably no, absent some fraud or misrepresentation.  As a general proposition, the law protects the individual right to contract. That means that the law will generally not interfere with a contract, even if a person made a really bad bargain. If the other person has breached the contract in some way, you would be justified in breaking the contract too. If they other person has kept his/her part of the bargain, then you are obligated to keep yours. If there was some impropriety in the formation of the agreement, you might have an out. Perhaps, the most common impropriety is fraud or misrepresentation. The conditions that you have identified (slanting floors, floor shaking, outlets shorting) might have been detected with a home inspection and some due diligence on your part. The adage "buyer beware" comes to mind. Latent defects (hidden defects that could not be detected by visual inspection) might be a legitimate reason to break a contract, depending on what the contract (lease with option to buy says). If you negotiated a contract and had the representation of an attorney, there should be representations and warranties in the contract. What do they say? If any of those representations and warranties have proven untrue, you might have a basis to break the contract. If there are no representations and warranties, then you may be stuck with the bargain you made, unless there were verbal representations made. If you asked, "Do the outlets work without shorting?"; and the answer was , "yes"; then you might have a reason to break the contract based on misrepresentation. The contract is two fold: a lease; and an option to buy. That you have decided the property is not a good purchase does not invalidate the lease. The defects in the property would generally have to make the property uninhabitable to give you a lawful reason to break the lease (unless you are in a jurisdiction, like Chicago, in which local ordinances may provide relief short of uninhabitability). The bottom line is that you really need an attorney to review the lease/option to but contract, determine all of the facts and give you an opinion whether you have a legitimate reason to dishonor the contract. The other thing you could do is attempt to negotiate with the owner to let you out early. If he/she knows you will not exercise the option to purchase at the end of the lease, may he/she would be willing to let you out early to find someone who is interested in buying. This answer is not intended to create an attorney/client relationship or to be relied upon as legal advice in your specific situation. You should consult with an attorney who can give you that advice in light of the exact wording of the document and all of the relevant facts.  ... Read More

There are too many details missing in your question for me to give you a good answer. On the face of your question, it seems you are concerned that you were required to have a contract with the photographer. The law does not require people to have written contracts, generally, but having a written contract is a good idea. It helps to establish the expectations and may provide a framework for resolving differences if written well. Misunderstandings often arise when two people think they understand each other and come to find out that they have two very different sets of expectations. Putting an agreement in writing can eliminate those misunderstandings by requiring you to work through things ahead of time. It sounds like the photographer expected you to stay with him/her for a longer period of time. Having a contract that states when the agreement terminates and how it can be terminated would have been helpful. As the first answer states, our laws guaranty people access to the court system when they think they have been wronged. You cannot stop someone from suing you. That does not mean they have a good case. If it is as cut and dry as you think it is, the case should not go very far. If there is more to the story, and in my experience there usually is, then who is right and who is wrong will be decided by a judge or jury. This answer is not intended to create an attorney/client relationship and is not intended as legal advice for the specific situation. I have just stated general principals. The unique facts of your situation should be presented to an attorney who can give you specific legal advice.... Read More