Pennsylvania Contracts Legal Questions

If your claim is $12,000 or less, I'd suggest that you file the claim on your won with the magistrate.  The contractor is probaby in violation of the Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act.  Violations entitle you to recover attorneys fees and exemplary damages.  The problem usually is trying to collect from the contractor.  They might be "in the wind" or won't cooperate with you.  But the first step is to file suit and get your judgment.  Try it on your own.  If you run in to trouble then hire counsel.  Even if you lose with the magistrate, you can appeal and get a brand new hearing.  That's where you might want to consider retaining counsel.  ... Read More

Its difficult to say without knowing more.  The essence of the issue is 1) did the condition leading to the flooding exist prior to your purchase and 2) did the sellers know about it a fail to disclose it to you?  Its often difficult to prove the first of these two.  Even if you can prove both 1 and 2, sellers often will not pay to fix the problem post-sale without you filing suit and incurring the expenses of a lawsuit.  You won't recover your attorneys fees. ... Read More

Your age does not alter the provisions of the lease you have with your current landlord.  Can you give the 60 day notice and then change your mind before the end of the 60 days and stay?  You might ask that of your Landlord.  That way the 60-day clock is ticking why you wait for another apartment to open up.  If one doesn't w/in the 60 days, rescind the notice.  Best bet is to have an attorney review the agreements for you and give you specific advice.... Read More

I would suggest that you review the contract to see if it speaks to this issue.  You could dispute the charge if you put it on a credit card.  I'm not sure a copyright would really apply to a logo -- more like a trademark issue.  You should certainly send them a letter cancelling whatever contract that you have and make sure you have proof of mailing. ... Read More

I would suggest that you review your agreement and see what options it gives you to terminate the transaction.  Usually real estate agreements speak to that issue.  Most will allow you to terminate for good cause.  Even without good cause, you might be able to terminate but lose your deposit money.  The fact that someone died in the property previously does not necessarily mean you can terminate the transaction.  If the property has some condition that makes living there hazardous to anyone, then that would be something different. ... Read More

Your money is probably gone -- you probably know that.  If you want to try to collect, you should file a claim against the company with your local magistrate (if the amount is less than $12,000) and see what happens.  Even if you get a judgment, it'll be difficult to force the company to pay you, especially if it has no money, out of state or is just gone. ... Read More

I think the answer is in the contract signed for the services.  Its possible that the person who signed that obligated themselves to pay for the services. If the contract was signed after your mother's death, then I think it's more likely that the signor is obligated to pay unless it was signed by someone acting in an official capacity on behalf of the estate.  If signed before your mother's death, if signed clearly as power of attorney, then might not be obligated.  One would need to see the contract and have a few more facts to give a more solid answer. ... Read More

If he gave it to you, then its yours.  I doubt the police will get involved in something like this.  He can sue you and if that happened, it will really come down to a credibiltiy determination -- who is more believeable.  If you want to give it back, I think you'd be reasonable if you asked the person to reimburse you for the moving costs and a reasonable about for storing it on your property.... Read More

Regardless of the ultimate answer here, it seems rather petty for your HOA to take issue with your endeavor as you describe it.  In order to answer this question, I would first suggest that you review the HOA governing documents and rules/regulations to see if there's a definition of a commercial business.  it may not speak to the issue at all or it might be vague, leaving room for interpretation.  Assuming there's something there that could be interpreted to mean that you're a commercial business, I would think that so long as you do not sit animals at your home, the HOA would have no legit beef with you. ... Read More

Something's missing here with your facts.  What did your contract for the seasonal campsite say?  Do you have to renew it yearly?  If so, did you renew?  I would think that might answer your question.  What's the key to?  I take it the the facts about the rvs has nothing to do with your right to use the campsite, correct? ... Read More

I think your approach here is a good one -- they have a "contractual" obligation to provide you with instructors who know the material.  You would have every reason and right to write a letter to the school requesting that you be permitted to retake the class with a competent instructor and free of charge.  In addition, your grade for the prior class would not count. ... Read More

Many pre-nups provide for different terms, or even that they are no longer in force, once a marriage  has lasted a given number of years.  If yours isn't one of them, however, it is likely still in effect.  Contracts don't stop being binding just because of the passage of time.  Although pre-nuptial agreements are a little more subject to challenge than commercial contracts negotiated at arms length between people of equal bargaining power, I know of no rule that they become invalid after a given number of years.  It is possible, however, that Florida has different rules than the states in which I practice.... Read More

Noncompete agreements and clauses in agreements are fully enforceable under the law.  They can seem to be an impenetrable barrier to moving on with your career.  However, they can be defeated.  Your intended new job may not violate the terms of the agreement.  The means and timing associated with your signature on the agreement may undermine the agreement's enforceability.  The terms may be over broad and not enforceable under the law.  Your best bet is to have the agreement reviewed by an attorney along with sharing the details of your situation in order to develop a specific strategy for you. ... Read More

Specific performance is the notion that a party can be compelled to act or refrain from acting, as the case may be.  Generally, injunctive relief is only available when there is no adequate remedy at law.  So, it is usually in place of actual damages.  However, if the contract allows for both, the court should enforce both.  Liquidated damages usually exist when the parties agree to a sum certain rather than calculating what the actual damages will be. I trust this answers your question, but, if you are near to me, feel free to call or e-mail on a free initial basis.... Read More

Sure we can do that.  I'm guessing that you've taken steps to secure ownership rights to your product before you've begun licensing it?  Have you registered a patent or trademark?  Those would be some preliminary questions I'd ask before I'd know whether a licensing agreement is right for your situation. ... Read More

I'm going to assume that the agency was a corporation. You say the agency was sold.  Do you know if the obligation to you was assumed by the buyer under the sales contract?  If so, the buyer would be responsible for the agency's contractual obligations to you. Assuming that the obligation wasn't expressly transferred in the sale, do you know if that was a stock sale or an asset sale?  If the corporate stock was sold, the person(s) or entity(ies) who bought the stock now own the agency, but it is still in existence, and still required to meet its contractual obligations to you.  If the assets were sold, the buyer is not the same entity, and (except in very rare cases where a legal doctrine known as successor liability may require it to meet the first agency's obligations; the facts you've recited give me no reason to believe successor liability would apply here) not responsible for your contract, but the old agency would still be responsible. If the old agency doesn't have the money to pay you, but distributed the proceeds of the sale, you may be able to recover from the recipients of those distributions.  The agency is allowed to pay creditors, but it is not allowed to distribute those sale proceeds to its owners (shareholders) until all creditors (including you) have been paid.  The distribution may be a fraudulent conveyance. If the agency distributed all of the proceeds to legitimate creditors and there is nothing left for you, you may still be able to get your pro rate share of that money by throwing the agency into an involuntary bankruptcy (probably too complicated and expensive for the amount of money we're talking about here). Finally, even if you can't recover from the agency or buyer, many states have laws which make the owners of a business personally responsible for at least some of the wages of the business' employees.   I don't know if PA. is one of those states. These are the possibilities.  The bottom line, however, is that pursuing this may be more expensive and time consuming than it is worth.... Read More

A contract is an agreement.  The agreement can be reached orally, by email, text message, or any other means (some contracts do have to be in writing to be enforceable, but a text message can be a sufficient writing).  Most contracts do not require witnesses, notaries, or other formalities to be binding.  However, if you did not intend to be bound until you had signed a document, you did not form a contract.  In other words, if you sent a text saying "I agree to pay you $50 for your car", you would probably be bound by this contract", whereas if you sent a text saying "I will pay you $50 for your car, and we have a deal as soon as we both sign a written contract", you probably wouldn't be bound.... Read More

A contract is simply an agreement.  Unless there are tax or other considerations at play which don't appear from the face of your question, it doesn't matter what you call it - a royalty agreement, a license agreement, a commission agreement, a joint venture agreement - you want an agreement that sets forth the terms that you've outlined.  To me, the deal you want seems closest to a royalty agreement - you want to pay this investor royalties on the net profits (I assume you want to pay on net profits, i.e. profits after costs are deducted, rather than on gross sale revenues, but you could do it either way - obviously the percentage would be lower if you were paying on gross rather than net) you make on this one product - but again, the nomenclature is really unimportant. There are many different ways to make a deal.  Perhaps, in addition to the basic structure of the deal you've outlined, the investor will want a guaranteed minimum payment, so that, for example, he will receive a guaranteed minimimum amount even if the profits aren't as high as aniticpated.  Perhaps you will want to cap the maximum amount the investor can receive in any one period.  Maybe, instead of giving up all rights on spinoffs, the investor will agree to take a smaller percentage of profits from spinoffs.  Or maybe, instead of giving the investor sole ownership of the product for a flat fee, you will agree to give him a 50% ownership interest.  Maybe he will want a right of first refusal so that you can't sell your interest to anyone else without offering it to him first, or maybe he will want the first right to partner with you in spinoff products.  Are you going to share risk as well as reward - what if you lose money on the product, or you face lawsuits alleging damages from a defective product?  What, if any, expenses are to be deducted from revenues to calculate profit?  Advertising?  Shipping?  Accounting and/or legal services?  Taxes? Insurance? Wages?   Will the investor have the right to audit your books to ocnfirm your calculation of profits?  If so, who pays for the audit?  How often can he audit?  There are many, many, issues to consider. The point is that the transaction can be structured in any legal way the two of you can agree on.  The important thing is to try to anticipate any and all contingencies and cover them in your agreement, and to try to negotiate the best deal you can.  Once you've done that, you (or your attorneys) can put those terms on paper and call it whatever you want.... Read More

I believe that the Pennsylvania statute of limitations for breach of contract is 4 years from the breach.  Thus, you are probably time barred from collecting on any installments which were defaulted on more than four years ago, but can collect on any defaults less than 4 years old.  There are some exceptions which can extend the limitations period, but I don't see any that would apply from the face of your question.... Read More