Tips:

• Contracts with tricky terms are used to trick you. Be sure that any writing in the contract is clearly understood and legible before signing.

• When contracts allow you to cancel in writing within a prescribed time, send the notice by certified mail, return receipt requested or by telegram.

• Many contracts carry provisions, often in real small type, which state that no representations other than those contained in the contract itself are recognized.

• The term "guaranteed" when used alone, means little and is ambiguous. Guarantees, unless specific are usually worthless.

• In connection with home improvement and remodeling contracts, don't sign completion slips before the work is finished satisfactorily.

• Installment sales contracts should contain an itemized listing of all charges and you should get a copy at the time of signing.

Watch out for:

• Be sure the contract covers everything you want and is priced as agreed.

• Be sure the contract covers all extra work and is properly priced, specific and is all that the salesperson promised.

• Be sure you are not agreeing to pay for anything you do not want.

• Read every line before you sign. Be sure to read the fine print and be sure it doesn't take away rights you were told or thought were yours.

• Check out companies and comparison shop before signing anything.

Your signature binds you to a contract. After signing a contract, if you don't keep your agreement, the other party may take action against you. You have the right to cancel IF you can prove the contract is illegal or was induced by misrepresentation or fraud. Generally, if you break a contract after the allotted time on the contract, you probably forfeit your right to your deposit, too.

Nothing is "free" when you agree to pay for it in your contract.

Don't sign unless you can and intend to do what you agree to do.

Don't sign because of any verbal promise that the contract can be canceled later or because you were verbally promised something you didn't receive.

Any complaint against the seller doesn't relieve you of your obligation to pay the finance company or bank----unless there is a specific law addressing your issue.

Examine your contract for any provisions regarding cancellation. This action is particularly important when the contract was signed in your home or at some place other than the normal place of business for the seller.

Read every sales agreement before you sign it to save yourself from paying for things you do not receive by reading every sales, service or work agreement before you sign. Every such paper you sign is probably a contract. It usually binds both you and the seller to do certain things. Contracts can be long or short, but don't have to look legal to be binding. Because most contracts are written to protect the seller, watch to see that the contract also protects you!

You and the seller aren't bound by anything that is not in the contract. Be sure that the contract tells what the seller will do for you, as well as what you are to do.

If something in the contract doesn't apply to you, cross it out. If the seller will not accept it that way, you don't have to sign. Sometimes salespeople will tell you "that's only there for special conditions", or "pay no attention to that because we never enforce it" or "this clause doesn't apply to you". Don't accept it. The paper you sign is what counts!

Never sign a blank document where the work to be done or the merchandise to be purchased or the price and terms of the product or service are blank and will be filled in later. It's like signing a blank check. Always make sure you get an exact copy of any contract or agreement you sign.