Fairfield Leasing Corporation v. Technigraphics, Inc.

607 A.2d 703 (1992)

Facts

D signed a 39-month lease for a coffee machine at a rental of $209.50 per month with third-party defendant U-Vend, Inc. Robin Umstead guaranteed performance of the lease for D. U-Vend assigned the lease to P. U-Vend is responsible to D for failures with respect to the leased equipment, and payment to the assignee of the monthly rent must continue despite any breach of contract by U-Vend. D alleged that the machine was defective and infested with cockroach larvae. U-Vend refused to take corrective action, and D stopped making the rental payments. P sued. D motioned for a jury trial. P and U-Vend moved to strike the jury demand based on a jury waiver provision in the agreement in paragraph 22 of 23 on lines 21-23 of a 25-line paragraph. The agreement is a standardized form contract. U-Vend prepared it. The letters of the single-spaced contract and guarantee are approximately one-half the size of the letters produced by the typical typewriter.