What are common contract mistakes?

Most contract disputes come from a handful of recurring mistakes:

1. Vague scope of work — 'design a website' instead of 'design a 5-page website with [specific features]'. Source of 60%+ of freelance disputes.

2. No deposit — work begins without payment. Client disappears or delays.

3. No payment schedule — 'Net 30' without late fees has no teeth.

4. Missing IP ownership — both parties assume they own the work. Lawsuits follow.

5. No termination clause — locked into endless project with no exit.

6. No kill fee — client cancels, you've done 80% of work, you get nothing.

7. Wrong governing law — contract says client's state. You fly across country to sue.

8. No dispute resolution — straight to litigation = $20K+ legal fees.

9. Copy-paste templates — generic boilerplate misses your industry/state requirements.

10. Verbal amendments — 'we agreed by text' is hard to prove.

11. Not reading before signing — sounds obvious, happens constantly.

12. Skipping the contract entirely — 'we trust each other.' Until you don't.

13. Misclassifying contractor as employee — IRS penalties.

14. No signature on amendments — verbal change orders won't hold up.

15. Auto-renewal traps — contract auto-renews unless 90-day notice; you miss the window.

16. Unenforceable noncompetes — banned by FTC in 2023; many state-specific limits.

17. NDAs that violate California SB 331 — overly broad NDAs are unenforceable.

18. Missing electronic signature consent — required for ESIGN compliance.

Use a structured checklist or guided agreement template to reduce omissions, then review the resulting terms for the actual deal and jurisdiction. iContract can help organize the workflow, but it does not guarantee that every clause is appropriate or enforceable.

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