Is there a minimum font size requirement for consumer contracts in California? New York has CPLR 4544 which requires contracts be in at least 8 point font. I've seen typeface requirements for California contracts re: Health Insurance, Pharmacy, Funeral Services, etc. but no general requirement like NY has.
Dear gw,
I too do not find any new legislation in CA for an overall minimum font size ("point type") like NY but, rather, the legislature seem to only deal with specific areas, as the problem arises and some group related to it lobbies for it.
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You referred to "new" legislation. Is there old litigation which addresses this? If possible, please explain your answer just a little further. Are there any statutory requirements for legibility of consumer transaction contracts?
Hi gw,
No, sorry for the ambiguity. Previously, I understood there was no general mandate. However, legislation is constantly changing and new bills are frequently be posed (in all states), so I wanted to research a bit first to see if anything of late had changed. I'm not finding that it did.
Now, obviously, if a 'written' contract is illegible, one could argue that it is not a valid contract in wriiting, since it can't be read, but the question would be, when does it become "illegible" - at what size?
Also, the UCC generally has areas that are required to be "conspicuous" in the contract, such as:
http://law.justia.com/california/codes/com/7201-7210.html
http://law.onecle.com/california/commercial/3311.html
DEFINITION:
(10) "Conspicuous," with reference to a term, means so written,displayed, or presented that a reasonable person against whom it isto operate ought to have noticed it. Whether a term is "conspicuous"or not is a decision for the court. Conspicuous terms include thefollowing: (A) a heading in capitals equal to or greater in size than thesurrounding text, or in contrasting type, font, or color to thesurrounding text of the same or lesser size; and (B) language in the body of a record or display in larger typethan the surrounding text, or in contrasting type, font, or color tothe surrounding text of the same size, or set off from surroundingtext of the same size by symbols or other marks that call attentionto the language.
http://law.onecle.com/california/commercial/1201.html