sorority contract

[haley1526]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Indiana

Last year I signed a contract to live in a sorority for the 2009-2010 school year. Over the summer my family went through some very tough times, financially, which then caused me to drop the sorority. Problem with this is; I am legally bound into a contract, so they are now encumbering my university account until I pay it. But, today I was looking through the contract I signed and in words that are underlined it states that if either you OR your parents do not put down their social security number in the contract then it is void, and with that, my father did not put his. So, does that mean my contract is voided and they can no longer encumber me?

 

[TheLawMan]

Haley,

At the time you signed this contract, were you 18 or over? If not, the contract should not be enforceable (unless your parent/guardian signed along with you).

From your brief description, it appears that the contract was for housing within the sorority for the entire school year in exchange for a set fee. I am assuming that given your situation you no longer (or have never) resided in the sorority house. Having said this, are you aware whether your room is still available within the sorority or have they rented/assigned it out to someone else? This is important because they will not be able to fully enforce the contract if they have mitigated their damages by assigning the room to someone else.

You mentioned that the contract specifically stated that if you or your parents do not insert the social security number, that the contract is void. You further stated that your father did not put his down, but did you and/or your mother? If the contract reads "OR" it will most likely be interpreted that only one of the named individuals has to provide their SSN (not all three).

You may have other loopholes in the contract, but it's impossible to say without reading the full contract. Does your university have any authority of this? If so, perhaps a meeting with student services will help alleviate this.