Comment by sidewndr46 | Hacker News Reader

Comment by sidewndr46 | Hacker News Reader

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How would you even function in the US? Just one time to get an apartment they had me sign an agreement stating I was not in the military, had never been in the military & would not join so long as I lived there. Keep in mind, I was subject to conscription at the time.

The whole thing is laughably unenforceable as well. They're trying to end run around federal law protecting members of the uniformed services. You can write any contract you want & have anyone you want sign it about. Doesn't mean anything, at all.

Also I'm pretty sure if I got called up to go to war, there is going to be someone in the DoD who can give me a little legal help in explaining to the landlord how hard they need to pound sand.

That’s a good example, but most contracts have language such as “if any clause of this contract is found to be invalid, the rest remains in force”.

So yea, in a case like that that part of the contract would be struck, but it isn’t a get out of jail free card for the entire contract.

Right, but in an employment contract you want that severability. If the company tries to enforce the non compete clause and it’s invalid, you don’t want that to invalidate their obligations with respect to your pension.

My experience with companies pulling DIY contract addendums out of their ass is that they forget severability clauses. Or that the contract starts falling apart because they have other sections which refer to the severed part which means those sections also fall apart. For example, a damages section that ends up exceeding state law.

DIY contracts are the best to sign because they are such a mess.

You're talking about "severability" in US contract law. The rest of the contract was either stupid (regulating my usage of the non-existent golf course) or just garden variety stuff (can't sublet, etc.).

The same company also just dropped off an "updated" contract a few months later and told me that I had to review it and sign it or move out by the end of the month. I obviously just ignored this.

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