Our former Daycare sent us to Collections

[Spooky]

I'm not sure where to begin on this, I suppose in the living room is as good a spot as any.

One day, without any warning, Freyja choked herself until she started turning colors. That's not something we ever expected so see. We asked her, in probably some less than diplomatic terms, who [TF] taught you to do that?

Another 3 year old. Daycares are a coagulation of humanity, and humanity doesn't usually send their best. Poor kid. What must the home life be like that that is what they're bringing to daycare? So, after much discussion, we have no choice but to confront our daycare. We talked to them on a Wednesday or Thursday I believe. I was later accused of coming in "guns blazing". Their biggest gripe? I told them, if they had known about this, and withheld it from us, I would immediately contact the Police. They didn't like that. In fact they called my wife Thursday or Friday and chewed her a good one over it.

My only regret is that I didn't show up with law enforcement. This was a couple years ago now, and I recently called the Police to ask them about the strangulation Incident. Strangulation is a felony in Nebraska, with a decent statute of limitations. Though they said they'd not charge a child who was 4-5 with a felony, they did advise going to DHHS and filing a complaint against the daycare's license.

They could not assure us of her continued safety, or rather we were unconvinced, so we terminated her attendance effective that Friday. There however was a clause in our contract with them that required a 30 day written notice, otherwise we are liable for 30 days of daycare services.

I'd have to check the paperwork again, but they're suing us for $950.00+ fees (of course). It was actually quite comical, they requested a default Judgement for $975.00, but it was immediately denied because I/we had filed answers. I am not an Attorney, neither is my wife.

I am a debt collector. I do this for a living. Though this part is a couple departments beyond me. Specifically I'm a Skiptracer, I find assets, and then initiate the Lawsuit. Then there's the "PreLegal" department, the the "Legal" department, and of course the on staff attorneys. I think we have 4 total? Anyway, it's rather rare for any consumer to file answers, though I've been doing this for almost a decade (cumulatively). There was my 1.5 year break from this job where I played meat shield at a Psychiatric Hospital. (In a sick way I miss it, nobody has tried to kill me in over 2 years now. *Sigh*)

So it has been a little over a year, and this gets filed in court. We're served, I write answers basically amounting to: No services were actually rendered (their complaint consistently references "Services Rendered") and that any agreement with them was void due to rather extreme safety concerns.

They filed a complaint, I filed answers, they motioned for default judgement (LOL) and were denied, I filed a motion to dismiss, that triggered a hearing which they continued to 07/07/2023 I assume to give them legal time to properly serve me with discovery, which I've answered, and responded in kind with reciprocal discovery and interrogatories.

We feel we have a pretty good case as theirs seems based entirely around actual "services rendered", they've thus far produced no proof we actually owe anything, and the exigent circumstances of our exodus. If we lose, they'll enjoy a Pyrrhic Victory. The contractual paperwork shows an old employer for both of us, and our bank doesn't have a registered agent in the state of Nebraska. (USAA, my checks say Austin TX on them.) I suppose that doesn't take into account a debtor exam or writ of execution (assuming they get their judgement), but I'll cross that bridge when we come to it. We could afford to pay it before it got to such a point. If they take cash I'll bring them 97,500 pennies. Or probably more since I'm taking up more than average attorney time. My motion to dismiss states "each to pay their own costs". Fingers crossed.

We, in general, pay our debts. It's actually sort of funny, there's a local radiological provider that is really bad about sending letters before they shuffle you off to collections. My office collects for them. We'll get a letter, from my own office, and I'll tell my boss, "dude, they seriously never sent us a letter, we need to keep an eye on this client, they're gonna get us in trouble". Most recently I had an account for my wife that was $7.01. I called up a new girl in my office, two cubicles down, and really messed with her a bit, said "hey, do you want to get a payment in full?" (a good thing for one's stats). LOL . Not the first time I've pulled my debit card out at my desk. Probably not the last time.

So, wish us luck I suppose. I refuse to go down without a fight. Hope you're having a good evening.

[tribe125]

“There however was a clause in our contract with them that required a 30 day written notice, otherwise we are liable for 30 days of daycare services.”

Does that account for the $950? If it does, what is the dispute?

[Spooky]

“There however was a clause in our contract with them that required a 30 day written notice, otherwise we are liable for 30 days of daycare services.”

Does that account for the $950? If it does, what is the dispute?

950/4 = 237.50. That’s approximately what we paid per week. Add attorneys fees, court costs, yeah the balance makes sense in that way.

The issue is my daughter was strangled at their daycare and we weren’t going to leave her there another 30 days and risk something happening again. They’ve broken the contract that stipulates that they are to provide a safe environment for our daughter while under their care.


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[rodia77]

Good luck, buddy, I hope you'll get the resolution your way.

[Raza]

950/4 = 237.50. That’s approximately what we paid per week. Add attorneys fees, court costs, yeah the balance makes sense in that way.

The issue is my daughter was strangled at their daycare and we weren’t going to leave her there another 30 days and risk something happening again. They’ve broken the contract that stipulates that they are to provide a safe environment for our daughter while under their care.


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I haven’t done any work in the debt collections space for several years now, but I do contracts. Sounds like, to me, the extreme negligence of the daycare renders the contract nullified: whether explicitly stated or not, a safe environment is paramount. If I were your lawyer, I’d threaten a counter suit for negligence and state the damages and harm your daughter experience. Because it sounds to me like you have clear DBCD for a negligence suit.

[Spooky]

I haven’t done any work in the debt collections space for several years now, but I do contracts. Sounds like, to me, the extreme negligence of the daycare renders the contract nullified: whether explicitly stated or not, a safe environment is paramount. If I were your lawyer, I’d threaten a counter suit for negligence and state the damages and harm your daughter experience. Because it sounds to me like you have clear DBCD for a negligence suit.

I am unsure what DBCD means? Google wasn't very helpful.

[tribe125]

They’ve broken the contract that stipulates that they are to provide a safe environment for our daughter while under their care.

Right - fair enough.

Was the other child’s behaviour documented or witnessed?

[Spooky]

Right - fair enough.

Was the other child’s behaviour documented or witnessed?

There are security cameras at the daycare. They claim this happened in one of the blind spots. Since my motion for discovery requests security footage, perhaps we'll see.

[Raza]

I am unsure what DBCD means? Google wasn't very helpful.

Oh, sorry. Torts shorthand from 1L. Duty, breach (of said duty), causation (of harm due to the breach), and damages (physical or financial injury). They’re the necessary elements of a negligence cause of action.

[gnuyork]

Oi, we may be going through a similar process... there is a major, and I mean major construction project happening yards away from our daycare. The dust is everywhere. There was never any official communication from the school to state the project (though it's quite obvious) other than a quick apology about the inconvenience. I have asked the school if they can temporarily move the school and make the construction site pay for the rental on the temporary place. I have even located an ideal space that's available. it's a Unity church that the school already has a relationship with because that is where they rent for large events like graduation this past May. They have a great facility for children. In fact I called the church to see if they do daycare, and they don't. It's just for Sunday, which means it's available during the week. Perfect. But one person at the school made it sound like it wouldn't be feasible to move all the material.

They say they only let the kids outside when it's not too dusty, but every time I drop off and pick up, it's freakin' dusty. I also asked if they had any air quality monitoring. They don't. Merely thinking it's not that dusty is not quite good enough for me. I actually kept her home Thursday and Friday, but she's back this week since we had some rain. For now the dust in under control, but we are looking for an alternative solution. It's not easy. And I do like the school, it's literally 5 minutes from the house, so also very convenient. But I don't think I can abide a major construction project so close.

If we find something new, I'm going to insist on our deposit (for the fall) back, and also the payment I made for this month.











The red fence area is where the children play outside, yikes, though they said not that day, thankfully. The county is supposed to be sending inspectors and insisting on water trucks to wet down the dirt as to not cause dust...yet... and I feel like the school should be riding that hard, and not be up to us as parents to complain to the county.