Don’t sign yet.
The small-print checker for leases, loans and contracts. It writes the questions they have to answer before you sign.
Buy · $19Nothing you type is sent anywhere.
Clause 01Under the glass
Five things are hiding in here.
Five clauses worth finding before you sign are printed too small to read. DragMove the glass over the page and find them.
Agreement
1. Definitions. In this Agreement “We”, “Us” and “Our” mean the Provider, and “You” means each person named as the Customer. “Term” means the Minimum Term together with any Renewal Period. Headings are for convenience only and do not affect interpretation.
2. Parties. Where more than one person signs as the Customer, each of you is jointly and severally liable for every obligation under this Agreement.
3. Assignment. We may assign or transfer Our rights under this Agreement to any person. You may not assign or transfer Yours.
4. Ending this Agreement. You may not end this Agreement before the end of the Minimum Term. Only we may end this early, on giving notice in accordance with clause 9.
5. Changes. We may vary these terms from time to time by notice to You. Continued use after the date of the notice constitutes acceptance.
6. Charges. Charges not set out in the Schedule are listed in the Tariff, available on request. A fee is payable on renewal.
7. Late payment. If any payment is late We may charge interest at the Default Rate from the due date until the date of payment, both before and after judgment.
8. Whole agreement. This is the entire agreement between the parties and supersedes all prior statements, representations and promises, whether written or oral.
9. Notices. Notices must be in writing and sent to the address in the Schedule. Notices sent by any other means shall have no effect.
Found 0 of 5
- Not found yet
Check 01 · Who’s who
“Jointly and severally liable”
Usually means either of you can be asked for all of it. Not half. All.
- Not found yet
Check 04 · The way out
“Only we may end this early”
Read how you leave before you read how you join.
- Not found yet
Check 09 · The “may” clauses
“We may vary these terms”
Every “may” in their favour is a “will” on a bad day.
- Not found yet
Check 06 · The extras
“A fee is payable on renewal”
If it has a name, it has a price. Ask for the list.
- Not found yet
Check 12 · The spoken promises
“This is the entire agreement”
If it isn’t in the document, it isn’t in the deal.
Found 5 of 5
That’s five. There are twelve.
There are twelve places a contract keeps its teeth. Don’t Sign Yet takes you through every one, with your own document beside you, and writes the questions as you go.
Buy · $19Use the arrow keys to move the glass over the page. Or use Find the next one.
Clause 02The product
A checker, not a book.
An app that opens in your browser. Pick what you’re signing, go through the twelve checks with the document beside you, and take away a sheet of written questions.
Buy · $19Clause 03How it works
Three steps. No pen yet.
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Pick the paper.
Lease, loan, car finance, standing guarantor, a rolling contract, a builder, or something else. If your home is the security, it tells you to have a professional read it first, and where to ask for free help.
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Go through the twelve.
One check at a time: who’s who, the total payable, the dates, the way out, the rises, the extras, and six more. Mark each one Found it, Not in mine, or Can’t tell. ‘Can’t tell’ writes its own question.
Check 04 · The way out · Car finance -
Take the sheet.
It writes your questions politely, in writing, quoting your own clause numbers. Tick them off as they’re answered. Open questions must be zero before the pen comes out.
The Questions Sheet · printed on A4
Clause 04The twelve
Twelve places a contract keeps its teeth.
The same twelve, in the same order, for every kind of paper. Each one has a rule.
01 Found it
Who’s who
Find every name on the paper, and what each one can be made to pay.
02
The total payable
The schedule at the back outranks the brochure at the front.
03
The dates
A date you haven’t diarised is a date that will be used against you.
04 Found it
The way out
Read how you leave before you read how you join.
05
The rises
Find out what the price is tied to, and whether it only goes one way.
06 Found it
The extras
If it has a name, it has a price. Ask for the list.
07
The missed payment
Read the late-payment clause as if you were already late.
08
What they can take
If your home is the security, a professional reads it before you do anything.
09 Found it
The “may” clauses
Every “may” in their favour is a “will” on a bad day.
10
Your duties
Your promises are in the contract. Read them as carefully as theirs.
11
When it goes wrong
Find out who decides the argument before there is one.
12 Found it
The spoken promises
If it isn’t in the document, it isn’t in the deal.
Clause 05Try a card
Try a card.
This is check 04 for car finance, word for word from the app. Tick a red flag and its question goes on your sheet.
The way out
The Way Out Rule. Read how you leave before you read how you join.
Everyone asks what the monthly payment is. Hardly anyone asks what happens if the car has to go back in month eighteen: a new baby, a lost job, a change of plan. Find out whether you can end it early, what you would owe, and whether the car’s value will cover it, because if it doesn’t, you pay the gap. Read the way out before the way in.
Your questions
0 open
Example questions from Don’t Sign Yet. Replace the clause numbers and dates with your own. If they won’t explain it, don’t sign it.
Nothing yet. Tick a red flag and its question appears here.
In the app you tick these off as they’re answered, and it fills in your own clause numbers and dates.
That’s one card. There are 84.
Buy · $19Clause 06From Maureen
Why an old woman with a highlighter.
Nobody reads the small print. That isn’t stupidity, it’s design. It’s long on purpose, it’s tiny on purpose, and it arrives on the day they want it signed, on purpose.
The money world is run by young men in a hurry. I’m an old woman with a highlighter. Guess which of us reads the last page.
I made this so you can read it too, one check at a time, and walk in with your questions written down. You don’t have to understand every word. You only have to make them explain the ones you don’t.
Maureen
Maureen Pike, 79. Your AI godmother. She is an AI character; the checks are real work.
Clause 07The verdict
It won’t tell you to sign.
Keep Reading, if you’ve skipped checks. Don’t Sign Yet, while any question is still open. Your Call, only when they’ve explained everything in writing. It judges your reading, never the contract.
Clause 08What’s in it
What you get for $19.
The checker
- The twelve checks 84 check cards across seven kinds of paper, written for each one.
- The clause decoder 150-plus entries: what it means, why it matters, the red flag and the question to ask.
- The questions sheet Every question it writes, editable, printable, copyable.
- The record Every check you’ve done, saved on your device, so you can compare two offers side by side.
Six bonuses
- The Quick Check Five checks, about fifteen minutes, straight to your questions.
- The Twelve Rules poster To print and pin up.
- The Signing-Day lock screen A checklist in the app, and a phone image with the six checks for the day itself.
- The Strike-Through How to change a contract properly on paper before you sign it.
- Diary the Dates A calendar file of your notice deadlines and renewal dates, made on your device.
- The Pocket Decoder The whole decoder as a printed booklet, for anyone who reads better on paper.
How it works on your devices One file that opens in your browser, laid out for a phone screen as well as a desk. A saved file opens most dependably on a computer or an Android phone with Chrome; an iPhone needs the home-screen copy, which isn’t ready yet. Once it’s open, it works offline, and nothing you type is sent anywhere. The poster and booklet come as PDFs, the lock screen as an image.
Clause 09What it isn’t
It never sees your document.
- It doesn’t read your contract. You do, with it beside you.
- It won’t say a clause is fair, legal or enforceable. The rules differ by place and change, so it tells you where to check.
- It isn’t a lawyer. Neither am I. I’m an AI character.
- If your home, a pension, a large sum or your name on someone else’s debt is involved, have it read by a professional before you sign.
Free help In the UK, Citizens Advice can go through a document with you, and MoneyHelper gives free money guidance. In the US, LawHelp.org lists free legal aid near you, and a nonprofit NFCC credit counsellor can talk it through. Nobody clever signs alone.
Clause 10Questions
Ask first. Obviously.
10.1 Territory.
The UK and the US. Switch the region and the words change (lease or tenancy agreement, security deposit or deposit), and so does where to check.
10.2 Tonight.
If you’ve only got tonight, use the Quick Check: the five checks I’d never skip, in about fifteen minutes, straight to your Questions Sheet. A half-read contract with five questions beats a fully read one with none.
10.3 Repeat use.
That’s the idea. Every lease, loan and contract from now on. The route is the same every time, so the second one usually goes quicker than the first.
10.4 Maureen.
An AI character: a 79-year-old who learned money from the paperwork up. She isn’t a real person, a lawyer or an adviser. The checks are real work, written to be used.
10.5 Buying.
Checkout opens soon. Tap any Buy button and I’ll tell you exactly where things stand.
Don’t Sign Yet · $19
Checkout opens soon.
I’d rather tell you that than take your money through a door that isn’t finished. Don’t Sign Yet will be $19 when it opens, and I’ll say so on my profiles first.
No email form, no list, nothing collected.