Minnesota Breach Of Contract Legal Questions

If your original contract did not include a lien (which I assume it did not or you would have filed it then) you can't just file a lien.  You hae to sue her for the money and win, at which point you will have a judgment lien.  Whether you will win may depend on whether your agreement that she pay you in intallments, or that she pay you by a certain date, or that she pay you when she could, etc?.  If your agreement was to pay you in installments, which it looks like on its face because she has been doing si for years and you accepted without suing her for breach of contract, you have no right to get your money all at once.  Also, if you sue, you will have to decide whether to sue in MO or MN.  Each has advantages and disadvantages, which yoiu shoudl probably discuss with a local attorney.... Read More

Non-compete agreements between employer and employee are viewed with some disfavor and are not always enforced, bu tI don't think either of these irregularities makes any difference.  There is no actual dispute over the date (nor, unless the non-compete ran from that date, as opposed to the date when your employment terminated, would any dispute be material) nor that you signed the agreement.... Read More

I can't tell from your email whether you have a good case or not, but certainly it is not "open and shut." If the company has had profits and hasn't paid you, it appears that you would have a claim.  But if the company had no profits, it is not required to pay you anything.  Nobody is guaranteed that an investment will succeed. However, if the company made factual misrepresentations which induced you to invest (e.g. "We had $500 net profit last year" when actually net profit was $100, but not "I think we'll lave $500 net profit next year") you might have a claim for fraud.  Regardless of whether you have a valid claim or not, you have to keep in mind that the company may have no money, and thus no way to satisfy any judgment you might obtain against it.  You not only have to win, you have to be able to collect.... Read More

If those are the only facts, yes.  Of course, there are many things you don't mention which could change my answer, for example:        Will the debtor claim that the contract was modified or a new contract made after the signed paper?      Will the debtor claim the money was paid, in whole or part, or is not yet due?      Will the debtor claim that he/she signed the paper as a result of duress, mutual mistake, or fraud?      Will the debtor claim that he/she was too young, or otherwise lacked the capacity to contract when he/she signed?      Will the debtor claim that the agreement was illegal, for example that he/she was agreeing to pay you for sex, or to kill someone?      Will the debtor claim that his/her signature was forged?      Having a document signed by the debtor acknowledging his/her debt to you is a pretty good case, but I can't say for certain that you will win based on that paper without knowing whether the debtor has any defenses to your claim.... Read More

By  selling him the galaxy in exchange for the iphone, you impliedly represented that you had good tiltle to the galaxy, which you did not.  You breached the contract of sale by giving him a phone which you didn't own.  Another way to look at it is that there was a failure of consideration - the other guy didn't receive the consideration he bargained for in the transaction - a phone - and is therefore entitled to rescind the contract and get his phone back (and you would have to pay whatever charges you had put on the phone and any damages the phone had suffered while in your possession.)... Read More

I'd ho;d on to the money for the time being.  The "buyer" is the one who has defaulted in what they agreed to do.  It isn't your job to solve the buyer's problem.  What purpose could a deposit have if not to have you keep it in the case of a default?  If you get sued, counter for specific performance of the original agreement.... Read More

If you are on the note and not on the title, you are in a tough spot.  You don't have much choice but pay: you owe the money, but paying does not result in your owning the car.  By making the payment, you have the right to make the other person on the note pay you, but it doesn't seem that is likely.  If you paid off the loan, you'd end up with the car lender's rights and could foreclose on the loan. I take it the other person on the loan isn't willing to sign over the title.  You could use the fact that you become that person's creditor as soon as you pay an installment on the loan as leverage. ... Read More

I would start with a consumer complaint through the Attorney General's Office. The Minnesota AG's office is exceptionally good at assisting consumers. I have seen numerous cases where that office has achieved great results.  They don't sue on your behalf, they just inquire. But they certainly get the full attention of the business that provided the bad service.  Also, file a Better Business complaint.  If neither of those work, then find a lawyer who is willing to handle this for a very small charge.  Lawyers are expensive, and the price doesn't seem to be going down, as the cost of business has not decreased with the recession.  For example, our firm is raising its rate soon from $125 per lawyer hour to $150 per lawyer hour; but it is still cheaper to buy an hour or two of lawyer time than to have the recurring monthly fee of an alarm service that you don't trust. Good luck.  ... Read More