c/contract-clause-check

That force majeure clause in my rental agreement - before and after COVID hit in March 2020

I had a standard force majeure that said basically nothing about pandemics, but after the landlord tried to use it to cancel my lease I got one added that specifically lists disease outbreaks and government shutdowns. Anyone else have a contract where a single event made you rewrite a whole section?

Boilerplate non-compete clause cost me 3 months of work

I was reviewing a freelance contract for a web dev gig in Austin and almost signed it without reading the fine print. Buried in the middle was a non-compete that said I couldn't work for any competitor in a 50 mile radius for 2 years after the project ended. At first I thought it wasn't a big deal, but then I realized that basically covers the whole city and I'd have to turn down half my usual clients. I spent hours talking to a lawyer and negotiating the wording down, and the whole process took 3 months before I could even start the job. Has anyone else run into these super broad non-competes that feel like they're trying to lock you out of your own career? How did you push back on the wording without losing the contract?

Question about a freelance contract that backfired on me last week

I signed a contract with a client for a website build, $2,500 total, and they snuck in a clause that said all source code and assets become their property upon payment. I thought that was normal but when they asked for the raw files after the first milestone, I realized I gave up rights to my own reusable components. I had to spend 4 hours renegotiating and adding a license section that kept my custom libraries. The client got super defensive and said I was being unprofessional. Has anyone else had a client try to take your behind-the-scenes tools in a contract?

That force majeure clause in my Austin studio lease caught me off guard last winter

I was reviewing my studio rental contract for a photo shoot space in Austin and noticed they had a force majeure clause that listed 'acts of God' but missed stuff like power outages or internet failures. Turns out when the winter storm hit, I was stuck paying for days I couldn't even get to the building. Has anyone else found these clauses bury vague terms that hurt you?

Had a lawyer friend look at my standard freelance agreement and he laughed at the indemnity clause

I had a clause that said I'd cover all legal costs if the client got sued over anything I worked on, which basically made me an unlimited insurance policy. Switched it to only cover claims from my own negligence and capped it at the project fee - did I miss anything else obvious?

Noticed a shift in how I review termination clauses after a bad deal in Denver.

Back around 2018 I had a contract with a vendor that had a hidden 90 day notice to terminate. Messed me up when I needed out fast. Now I compare every new contract's termination terms with that old one, and it's night and day how much smoother things go. Anyone else got a past contract that changed how you read new ones?

PSA: Check your force majeure clause for pandemic loopholes

I compared my old contract's force majeure with a new one from last week in Phoenix and the old one didn't cover any public health emergencies. Have you guys checked if yours actually protects you if something like that happens again?

Hit 100 signed contracts and still got stiffed on one

So I finally hit 100 signed contracts this month which felt like a big deal for a solo guy. I was pretty pumped about it until one of those clients just stopped paying after the work was done. The clause said payment due within 30 days but there was no late fee or penalty language in there. I figured I was being nice keeping it simple but now I'm out $750 and chasing emails. The funny thing is my 98th contract had a solid dispute clause and that one paid on time. Guess I learned the hard way that hitting a milestone doesn't mean squat if your contract has a hole in it. Anyone else have a dumb oversight like that where a basic clause cost you money?

Took me 2 full days to catch a sneaky auto-renewal clause in a vendor contract

I was signing up with a supplier for mulch and soil for my landscaping company, and their contract had this tiny section buried on page 12 about automatic renewal. It said if I didn't cancel in writing 60 days before the end, I'd be locked into another year at a 15% higher rate. I nearly missed it because I was focused on the price and delivery terms up front. After reading it three times and calling them to clarify, I got them to change it to a 30-day notice instead. Has anyone else found hidden auto-renewal stuff in service agreements that almost cost you big?

Vent: landlord slipped a 'maintenance fee' clause into my renewal

I was about to sign a 12-month lease renewal for my apartment in Austin when I caught a line about a $75 monthly maintenance fee for things like changing lightbulbs and unclogging drains. That's stuff I'd normally do myself, you know? Has anyone else seen sneaky fees like this buried in their contracts?

My landlord's lawyer said a verbal agreement was enough... now I'm out $800

I rented a storage unit for my side business and the owner told me I could cancel anytime with 30 days notice, but the actual lease said 60 days. I trusted his word over the contract and when I tried to cancel, they charged me another month. Has anyone else had a verbal promise override what's in writing and gotten out of it?

Had to pick between a flat fee of $500 or a 5% commission on a $15k gig

I was negotiating a freelance design contract last month for a website rebuild. Client offered two payment options. I took the flat fee thinking it was safer. Turned out the project ballooned way past scope and I ended up making way less per hour than if I'd gone percentage. Anyone else get burned picking the wrong pay structure?

That 30 day cancellation clause in my lease cost me $500

I signed a storage unit lease back in March without reading the fine print about cancellation. There was a clause buried in there saying I had to give 30 days written notice to cancel, but it also said they'd charge me for the full next month if I gave notice after the 15th. I moved everything out on the 18th thinking I was done, but they hit me with another full month's rent plus a late fee when I didn't pay. The manager told me it's standard warehouseman's lien language that favors the facility. Now I check every contract for that specific combo of notice period and billing cutoff dates. Has anyone else gotten burned by that kind of timing trap?

My subcontractor added a non-compete clause to his contract

Last month a framer I've used for 5 years slipped a 2 year non-compete into his renewal that would ban me from hiring any other framing crew in the county. I called him on it and he said it's standard - has anyone else run into subs trying to lock you into exclusive deals like this?

Wasted $600 on a retainer fee for a freelance lawyer who ghosted me

I paid a lawyer $600 up front to review a subcontractor agreement last March. He took my money, said he'd have notes in a week, then went silent. After two weeks of emails and voicemails, I finally got a one-sentence reply saying he was "too busy." No refund, no work done, just a lesson learned. I'd rather pay hourly after the fact than ever hand over a retainer again. Has anyone else gotten burned by a retainer fee like this?

I finally had to walk away from a contract over the indemnification clause

Last week I was reviewing a service agreement for a $4,500 kitchen remodel in Portland. The indemnification clause said I'd have to cover their legal costs if anything went wrong, even if it wasn't my fault. I asked them to change it three times and they just kept saying it was their standard form. After a week of emails back and forth, I told them I couldn't sign. Has anyone else had to walk from a decent paying job because of a one-sided clause like that?

Signed a freelance contract with a 90 day payment term and nearly went under

I took a $6k web dev gig from a small non-profit in Denver and their contract said net 90, which I figured was fine until my rent was due 45 days in with no check in sight. Has anyone else gotten burned by crazy long payment terms on a first project?

Client wanted to renegotiate my payment terms 3 months after signing in Portland

I used to just trust handshake deals and email confirmations for freelance work, but after a client in Portland tried to change my net-30 terms to net-90 after I'd already delivered the files, I learned the hard way why you need everything locked down in the actual contract. Has anyone else dealt with clients pulling this kind of late-stage term switch?

DAE keep seeing 'work for hire' clauses in contracts that don't actually meet the legal definition?

I mean, I've reviewed three this month from different clients, and they all just slap the phrase in without the specific language the Copyright Office requires. Has anyone else had to explain this to a client who thought they were covered?

My old freelance contract had a 'kill fee' clause that cost me $2,500 on a project that fell apart.

The client walked away after I'd done half the work, and the contract said I only got 25% of the total fee. I didn't push back on that number when I signed it. It was for a branding guide for a startup that ran out of cash. Anyone have a better way to structure a kill fee so you get paid for the work you actually did?

PSA: I just lost a $500 deposit because of a 'materials' clause in a venue contract

I thought 'non-refundable deposit' just meant the booking fee, but the fine print said it also covered 'quoted materials' like tables and chairs they never even ordered. The manager pointed to that line when I had to cancel. Has anyone else gotten burned by a venue contract that hides extra costs in the deposit section?

Just had a client push back on a 'work for hire' clause in a design contract

I used a pretty standard template I found online for a logo project, but the client's lawyer flagged the 'work for hire' language. They said it didn't clearly state that all rights transfer upon final payment, which could leave me on the hook. I rewrote it to say 'all copyrights are assigned to the Client upon receipt of the final installment' based on a clause from a professional group. The difference was night and day in terms of clarity. Has anyone else had to tighten up their rights transfer wording recently?

Had a mover's insurance claim get denied over a single word in the 'force majeure' clause

The policy said it covered 'acts of God' but not 'weather events,' and a blizzard in Denver last winter was ruled the latter. Anyone else had a contract hinge on a definition like that?

Serious question, a homeowner in Tacoma tried to add a 'weather delay' clause that would have let them cancel my roofing job without penalty for any rain forecast within 10 days.

I spent three hours last week rewriting it to specify only measurable precipitation over a quarter inch that actually stops work, after a forecast last spring cost me a whole week's pay on a different job.

A freelancer at a coffee shop in Austin showed me a 'non-compete' clause that basically said she couldn't work in her field for 3 years after the contract ended.