Legal Question in Legal Ethics in Florida

My girlfriend is being requested by the university she attends the she owes $1500 for an error in her scholarship. The scholarship was awarded for fall 2009 however after the semester she no longer qualified for the scholarship. However she was uninformed of it's cancellation. The issue is that the scholarship still payed out and the error wasn't discovered until June 2010. At which time the money was used for summer classes. There is now a hold on her account until she pays the money. Should she have to pay for someone elses error especially after 6 months?


Asked on 8/27/10, 10:03 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Shelly Schellenberg MI & FL private practice

If your girlfriend reasonably relied on the university's representation that her tuition was paid by scholarship, then she has a good case to refuse to pay the money. The university will have to show that she was "unjustly enriched" but not due to negligence on the part of the university. The bottom line responsibility will rest with whichever party should have known that the scholarship award was an error. It may be the legal responsibility of whoever offered and paid the scholarship money, and now wants to rescind that offer and payment. Take your facts and documentation to a general practice attorney to apply the law to the facts of your case.

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Answered on 9/02/10, 5:11 am


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