I just received a message from the Ohio Attorney General about a piece posted on their site. They call it “Know Your Rights” - a more accurate title would be “Trash Your Rights”. The article lists supposed “rights” - enforced by the State of Ohio - that permit people within the comfort of their own homes to sign contracts without actually being bound by them:
Under Ohio’s Home Solicitation Sales Act, consumers have three days to cancel a contract they sign in their home or at a location other than the company’s regular place of business, such as a home improvement show or a hotel lobby.
The seller must give you a cancellation form at the time of the sale. To cancel the contract, you must cancel in writing by midnight of the third business day after the transaction. Business days are Mondays through Saturdays; Sundays and legal holidays are not.
So, rather than allow a person to take responsibility for his own actions and thoroughly investigate a contract before signing it, the state government takes the convenient route - simply permit contracts to be invalidated without threat of backlash! This they call a “right”. Unfortunately, such “rights” must necessarily violate actual individual rights - those rights on which the country was founded, and which are necessary for people to be free to live and pursue their values and goals - the rights to life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness.
Do they really think this law will do anything positive? Certainly it’s not - otherwise they wouldn’t have to send out periodic reminders. Rather than cut down on the number of irresponsibly-signed contracts, it no doubt increases that number, and likewise the number of complaints from consumers. But regardless of whether or not such a law would work in practice, it does not justify the violation of individual rights that comes with such regulations. People must be free to set the terms of their contracts and expect the courts to back them up. As John Lewis pointed out in a speech at a recent tea party protest, such laws are an inversion of the master-servant relationship between the people and the government - “we the master, government the servant!”
