Immediate Termination - Deposit??

[Sandbox Sally]

edited for excessive personal information

[monkeymama]

do you this outlined in your policy? my deposit is non refundable no matter what. their behavior is horrid! do you have any prospects to fill the space? if i had someone to take the space, i might think about returning the deposit. you are well within your right to keep it tho, and they frankly dont deserve it. good luck

[mimi]

Does it say in your contract that you may terminate if the relationship because abusive/disrespectful to you or the dck's and/or due to continous late payments? If so I would keep the deposit as they have violated the terms of your contract. You will need to fill this space and they have left you with really no choice but to terminate. They have cost you income. It is not unprofessional to keep what is rightfully yours. Good luck and I good for you for getting rid of these people.

[sunnydays]

You are so right to terminate! You don't have to take that frmo anyone! Crazy rude! I think, if it were me, I would return the deposit as it is meant to be for the last two weeks of care. However, if you have something in your contract about the deposit being forfeited by failure to follow policies, you could keep it.

[Inspired by Reggio]

Hmmm that is a tough one ~ I have it in my code of conduct that 'that while children are 'learning' and will be given a buffer on poor behavior that poor behavior on the adults part is grounds for immediate termination and forfeiting of the security deposit in lieu of notice' .... I also have that 'chronic issues with payment will result in termination of this contract without notice and forfeiting of the security deposit' so there is no question I would KEEP the deposit in a case such as this as the late payment first time is strike one and having to 'chase' them for payment is strike two and the throwing money at you, the silent treatment and so forth are strike THREE because those are all POOR behavior for a grown up to engage in!!!

However that said depends on how much conflict you want to deal with ~ if your contract is not 'clear' that they risked being terminated or loosing their deposit for such behaviour they might get even more childish and try to 'sue you' if you do not return the deposit in lieu of notice ... so depends on if you want to take that risk or just take the high road and refund it to make them go away?

When I worked in administration and we wanted to 'fire' an employee even when we had CAUSE we always just paid them severance pay in lieu of notice cause we wanted them gone with no excuse for them to make more trouble ~ it was just 'easier' to invest in paying them to be gone than to deal with them any longer just to prove we were 'right' cause with people who behave in ways they can be fired or terminated they RARELY think they were in the wrong and are the type to blame everyone else for things that go wrong in their life and think the world owes them and so forth .... and their behaviour to date has me thinking they are 'those types' who are angry with YOU because you had the balls to call them on their poor behaviour which they feel 'entitled' to behave like!

[Sandbox Sally]

Here is what my contract states:

I reserve the right to immediately terminate for the following reasons:

- Non-payment
- Failure to abide by my policies as outlined by my handbook
- Physical or verbal abuse of any person or property
- If a child becomes a danger to the other children
- Failure to complete required forms
- False information given by parents either verbally or in writing

Do I have to have it in my contract that the deposit is forfeited by failure to follow policies? Because isn't that what the deposit is for? Lost wages in the event that they skip out, or in this case, in the event that I have to terminate immediately? The deposit is, essentially for the last two weeks care, but the reason that we secure it is to avoid losing wages in the event of abrupt termination of agreement. I just can't figure out if this is worthy.

[Inspired by Reggio]

Personally IMO if you want to avoid conflict or getting sued for keeping their money while refusing service than YES you need to make it CLEAR that they will also loose their deposit for the reason

Basically I would just add

Forfeit of the security deposit and immediate termination of service will occur if any of the following behaviors occur:

I also have a clause in my contract that basically states 'the decison of the provider to waive any policy in once circumstance does not negate it in future circumstances'!

AKA I might bend the rules for you ONCE if I feel you deserve a second chance but behave like an ass again and the hammer will come down ~ so for example it sounds like you waived your 'late fee' for them the first times and then got fed up and by their rudeness it sounds like they than expected you to keep waiving the late fee cause they were 'special' or something and are now pissed that you are not letting them be special ~ so whenever I waive a policy for a client I always state 'I am waiving the late fee because this was your first offense but please remember that if there is a next time you will be charged $X a day for each day it is late and if there are continued issues with payment termination of the contract will occur' so they've been warned I was NICE but you screw with me and NOT NICE REGGIO comes a calling cause I will not allow you to behave like this

[Sandbox Sally]

I understand what you're saying, Reggio, and it makes perfect sense. I will definitely be clearer in the wording of my contract. Thanks very much for the tip.

[Inspired by Reggio]

With out the clarity what you can try is the immediate termination and not say anything about the 'deposit' and see if they make the same conclusion that they have forfeited it due to their poor behavior .... however if they make a stink about it than you can state that it will be refunded when you do your banking ~ I would do it in a money order or something where you can have a clear 'record' that it was refunded to them for your records!

[Spixie33]

i would personally be more likely to refund the deposit if i really wanted someone gone and it didn't clearly state the non-refundable clause in my handbook or else I might be inclined to give them half back along with their termination letter.
It is a tough one. I will have to check the wording of my contract because I am not even sure what I said now. It would be a bad situation to run into. I hope it goes well for you tonight