• FreeAdvice has a new Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, effective May 25, 2018.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our Terms of Service and use of cookies.

Want to dissolve contract

Accident - Bankruptcy - Criminal Law / DUI - Business - Consumer - Employment - Family - Immigration - Real Estate - Tax - Traffic - Wills   Please click a topic or scroll down for more.

leaderl

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? Michigan

My husband & I signed a legal contract with a company (OAI) where they give us access to 6-7 private campgrounds over the next 5 years. We paid ~$850 up front, and signed a contract to pay $3200 plus interest (takes it up to ~$4500) plus ~$350 in maintenance fees annually. We signed the contract under pressure--were told that if we didn't sign on that particular day (4/30/06), then for the same amount of money we would only have access to 1 private campground in Michigan over 5 years instead of 6-7. We were physically at & toured one campground prior to the sales pitch, were shown colored diagrams of the other campgrounds, were verbally told that the campgrounds all included fitness/exercise facilities, beaches, some had nature trails & boat rentals, were told there was guaranteed availability, and that the campsites were "not on top of one another" giving the impression that they were wooded and had privacy to the sites. We were unable to visit other campground until the first weekend in July 2006. We visited 3 different ones (Standish, Omer and West Branch campgrounds) over this weekend, and found that there were NOT fitness/exercise facilities at all campgrounds (only at 2 of them); the sites were literally within 5 feet from each other with no privacy and few trees (the campground looked like a very small trailer park in a city); the beaches were small--like 15 ft access for over 50 campsites at one place, one was access to swim in a small man-made pond; we rented a motorboat at one and the motor cut out nearly immediately and we were stranded on the lake with oars that did not work well for nearly an hour before towed in; we witnessed multiple customers complaining at a campground about lack of access to electricity and other site problems; and when tried to use a port-a-potty found that it was nearly overflowing with defecation. We'd like to terminate this contract, have already paid them over $1000, and do not ever intend to return to any of their campgrounds (therefore getting no true service out of our contract). When I spoke with them they offered to "let" us buy out for another $2800. Do we have any legal grounds to get out of this contract without paying them any further money, and/or settle for much much less (like $500)??
Thank you for your help with this.
 


divgradcurl

Senior Member
leaderl said:
What is the name of your state? Michigan

My husband & I signed a legal contract with a company (OAI) where they give us access to 6-7 private campgrounds over the next 5 years. We paid ~$850 up front, and signed a contract to pay $3200 plus interest (takes it up to ~$4500) plus ~$350 in maintenance fees annually. We signed the contract under pressure--were told that if we didn't sign on that particular day (4/30/06), then for the same amount of money we would only have access to 1 private campground in Michigan over 5 years instead of 6-7. We were physically at & toured one campground prior to the sales pitch, were shown colored diagrams of the other campgrounds, were verbally told that the campgrounds all included fitness/exercise facilities, beaches, some had nature trails & boat rentals, were told there was guaranteed availability, and that the campsites were "not on top of one another" giving the impression that they were wooded and had privacy to the sites. We were unable to visit other campground until the first weekend in July 2006. We visited 3 different ones (Standish, Omer and West Branch campgrounds) over this weekend, and found that there were NOT fitness/exercise facilities at all campgrounds (only at 2 of them); the sites were literally within 5 feet from each other with no privacy and few trees (the campground looked like a very small trailer park in a city); the beaches were small--like 15 ft access for over 50 campsites at one place, one was access to swim in a small man-made pond; we rented a motorboat at one and the motor cut out nearly immediately and we were stranded on the lake with oars that did not work well for nearly an hour before towed in; we witnessed multiple customers complaining at a campground about lack of access to electricity and other site problems; and when tried to use a port-a-potty found that it was nearly overflowing with defecation. We'd like to terminate this contract, have already paid them over $1000, and do not ever intend to return to any of their campgrounds (therefore getting no true service out of our contract). When I spoke with them they offered to "let" us buy out for another $2800. Do we have any legal grounds to get out of this contract without paying them any further money, and/or settle for much much less (like $500)??
Thank you for your help with this.
You can't make them let you out of the contract. You could refuse to pay, and then wait for them to sue you, and then you could try and prove that they breached their end of the contract first -- but you have no guarantees in writing, you didn't inspect the other campground first, it's hard to see where any of that is relevant to your case -- and being told that you have to "sign today or the cost goes up tomorrow" or whatever, that is NOT "duress," it's just a sales tactic, and has nothing to do with the validity of the contract.

Breaching the contract yourself wil likely cost you the full amount of the contract, and damage your credit, so paying them the $2800 might be the easiest and cheapest way out. You might want to be in less of a hurry to sign next time...
 

leaderl

Junior Member
Thanks

Thanks for the reply--believe me, we are definitely NOT going to sign any contracts like this in the future and feel pretty stupid for getting sucked into this one. I appreciate the info and advice.
 

Find the Right Lawyer for Your Legal Issue!

Fast, Free, and Confidential
data-ad-format="auto">
Top