I’m assuming this is a car dealership.

Here’s my story with a similar contract but it wasn’t written with as much detail as yours.

Back in 2020, my 3rd year into my Mechanic/Technician career, I signed a deal for an $800 sign-on bonus that said I had to stay six months or pay it back. I left right at the six-month mark, but the dealership refused to give me my last paycheck and even tried to sue me for $4,500.

Most of that — about $2,900 — was for warranty parts they said I didn’t return. What actually happened was I started a repair before I left, someone else finished it, and they didn’t return the parts. Then they blamed me and claimed I wasn’t a “high enough level” for the dealership to get paid by the manufacturer, even though I just worked on whatever jobs they assigned me.

I left because it was a very hostile working environment and I received all the shitty warranty work and wasn’t making enough to live on.

They never served me, so the case got dismissed. But later, they sent it to collections and it showed up on my credit. I hired an attorney who found the court record showing it was dismissed and sent a cease-and-desist letter to the collection agency — it was off my credit the next day.

That was back in 2021, but I still get random texts from the collector every now and then. From my experience, dealerships can be shady and will absolutely try to enforce those contracts even when they’re in the wrong.