Can a sales contract be void if the sales rep deliberately put the wrong dates on the contract?

My husband and I were scammed by an APX Alarms salesman. We apparently had 3 days to cancel the contract or else we were stuck with it for 39 months, no exceptions unless we want to pay $1949.00. The salesman had the wrong dates on the contract which makes it look like we had even less time to cancel. My husband didn’t read the fine print and I was outside. This is so embarrasing! We have since found out that APX Alarms are a scam and everyone hates them.
I should have said that they are a scam according to all the complains I’ve read about them online from people who have tried to get out of the contract prior to the 39 month agreement.

First issue – can an incorrect date be used to invalidate an otherwise valid contract? Nope, courts interpret contracts to be valid absent a showing that there was no “meeting of the minds” or that the contract failed to satisfy some other requirement of contract law. Here, you didn’t say what type of dates were placed on the contract, I’m guessing that you meant service dates. Unless there is a clear showing (from a brochure or other sales literature) that the dates were wrong, the contract will stand as written. If there is something like a purchase order that says from date X to Y and your contract says from X+1 to Y+1, or the company admits the mistake, the contract may be interpreted to be binding from those dates only.

Second issue – may the company charge you $1949 to cancel? Depends on the state. Contracts can have damages provisions built into them BUT they must be reasonably designed to compensate the non-breaching party for the loss. They cannot be punitive (as in – if you breaching the contract would cost them $120 in equipment and the rest was designed to make it less likely that you would breach, they could only collect $120).

Third issue – I’m not sure what you mean by “APX Alarms are a scam and everyone hates them.” If the company is not providing what it claims to provide, then they have breached the contract and you need not worry about this.

PSC Security

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