If the only reason that you signed a contract in Colorado was that you were under duress, you can probably get right out of that contract with very little effort. However, it’s critical to know what duress is and how it works, and you need to understand that it’s not the same as being pressured to sign.
For example, one man told the story of a client he had who told him that he had been put under duress and signed some paperwork, so he believed he could legally break the deal. The man pressed his client for more specifics, asking him how he’d been put under duress. He even asked if the man had been physical harmed or threatened, thinking it had been serious.
The client told him he hadn’t been physically harmed in any way, but that the company had simply told him they would not sell him anything until he signed his name on the dotted line. He was threatened merely with losing the purchase that he wanted to make.
This does not count as duress. The company was simply standing by their policy in that they wouldn’t make a sale without a contract in place. While that did pressure the man into it, duress is far different in that it stretches into the realm of wrongdoing and even crime. Without that extreme element present, a contract cannot be broken on those grounds.
Contracts can be complicated for both sides, so you must enter into any disagreement or initial signing with a full knowledge of the legal ramifications of what you’re doing.
Source: Huffington Post, “Five Legal Myths That Can Cost You a Fortune,” Jack Garson, accessed June 04, 2015
