Can I be taken to court?
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Can I be taken to court?
I called BB moving and gave them a 285 deposit to hold my date. I canceled
within the hour and they will not refund my deposit. I put a stop payment on it and
was told and shown in writing that if I put a stop payment on this that I’ll be
personally liable for entire charge PLUS court costs, and attorney fees and that it
will be in superior court in LA. They will take me to court. Is this legal? Can they do
this?
Asked on November 6, 2016 under Business Law, California
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 8 years ago | Contributor
Yes, they can sue you for the money, can certainly get the amount of the stopped check and the court fees/costs, and might be able to get attorney's fees, too. A deposit is NOT refundable unless the terms of the service agreement or contract specifically state it is refundable, and you complied with those terms. Otherwise, the entire point of a deposit is that you give it up if you cancel the transaction: that is a way to encourage you to *not* cancel, and it also guarantees that if you do cancel, the vendor still gets some payment as compensation for having reserved that time/date/etc. for you. There is no right to cancel, even within the hour, unless the contract, etc. gave you that right. So based on what you write, they could sue you successfully.
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