Question:
Dear Steve,
My mother and father signed a contract with DirectBuy. Now, my father has since passed away and my mother can no longer afford the payments. Also the store at which they signed the contract has since closed, so there’s no place for my mother to go to buy anything anyway.
Is there anyway for me to help my mother to get out of this contract. She did sign the contract, but is there anything else that she can do?
Richard
Answer:
Dear Richard,
DirectBuy can be real sticklers when it comes to getting out of a contract. They tend to be in the “take no prisoners” camp.
See my past articles on DirectBuy.
Canceling the contract will have to be in accordance with the terms your parents originally agreed to. The fact your father passed away (sorry) isn’t enough to cancel the contract. And typically the contracts have a limited cancellation period.
DirectBuy has been so difficult to cancel and get refunds from that some people have resorted to suing the company. That’s what this former customer did.
The most logical choices to think about are to consult with a local consumer attorney and determine if the company may have done something fraudulent or illegal in your state. One place to look for an attorney is from www.consumeradvocates.org
You can always attempt to negotiate with the company to let you out of the contract for extenuating circumstances. I don’t hold out a lot of hope for that option based on the track record I’ve seen.
Finally, depending on your mother’s financial situation she may be a good candidate for bankruptcy. A consumer bankruptcy will terminate the contract and dispose of her other unsecured debt. You’d have to evaluate her overall financial situation and talk to a local bankruptcy attorney to best understand that option. That will also depend on how much she owes on the remaining contract versus the cost of bankruptcy and what her general situation is.
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