Texas Breach Of Contract Legal Questions

Assuming that you have no valid defense to the loan (usury, fraud in the inducement, minority, etc.), and do not file for bankruptcy protection, you will be sued for the amount you owe and a judgment will be entered against you.  The creditor will then attempt to collect on his/her/its judgment by garnishing your wages and other income, attaching your assets, etc.... Read More

You can sue for a refund, but if the business was a separate legal entity (e.g. a corporation or llc) which has closed, it probably has no assets from which to pay you.  There are possible theories under which you might be able to recover from the owners personally (piercing the corporate veil, misappropriation of trust funds, etc.), but none of these are a slam dunk.... Read More

What is he suing you for?  Although you are not party to the contract, and thus there is no claim against you for breach of contract (whcih doesn't mean that the other gentleman can't sue, just that he won't win), that doesn't mean that you can't be accused of other wrongdoing.  For example, if you, knowing about the contract, induced your father to breach it, you could be liable for tortious interference with contract. ... Read More

Texas law may be different, but in NY, the date set in the contract is not mandatory, and either side may adjourn without penalty.  It is only when one side, a reasonable time beforehand, notifies the other that "time is of the essence" that the date set for closing becomes material such that a refusal to close on that date can be considered a breach of contract.  If this is also the law in Texas, you or your attorney should immediately send a "time of the essence" letter to the seller setting a closing date before 6/30.... Read More

The answer depends on several factors. One, when you say Company B bought Company A, do you mean that Company B bought the stock/equity of Company A, or just the assets?  If the former, then you are still dealing with Company A, just with different owners and a different name (if you buy 100% of the shares of IBM and change its name to BMI, IBM still exists and its contracts are still in force.)  Unless your contracts allow you to back out if different people own Company A, which I very much doubt, you would still be obligated. Two, assuming that Company B didn't just buy the stock of Company A but rather bought the contract itself, do your contracts provide that the alarm company can assign them?  If you signed the form contracts provided by the alarm company, they probably do.  In the absence of such a provision, most contracts are freely assignable, except those for personal services (e.g. a band can't assign its contract to play at your wedding to another entertainer, but a lender can assign your loan to another person or entity.)  I'm not sure whether alarm monitoring services would be assignable absent a contractual provison allowing it, but I bet there is such a provision in your contracts. Three, have you attempted to cancel the contracts?  Even if the contracts are no longer binding, you would probably be responsible for paying the new alarm company the fair market value (quantum meruit) for the services it has been providing since it took over, although you would not be obligated to keep them on in the future.... Read More

One of the most important concepts in receiving money back from friends and loved ones is whether or not you gave the person a gift or a loan. If your ex-girlfriend was never expected to pay the $12,000.00 back, then you gave her a gift. If she acknowledged the money as being borrowed from you, then you gave her a loan. You have to be able to prove that you expected her to pay the money back. The way you describe the situation sounds like you gave her a series of cash gifts for repairs to her home, but there may be more to the story. If you have emails, text messages, or witnesses who can corroborate your story that you expected her to pay this money back, then you may be able to file suit against her for breach of contract. Otherwise, you're going to have a hard time proving that the money you gave her was not a gift. ... Read More

I could use more information about your business and the nature of your agreement with the auto financial company. Why are they holding on to your titles? How long have you been business partners with these people? Did something change in your business relationship? Did your contract address this potential situation? ... Read More

A contract by email can be binding, but I'm not sure what you have would be a contract, even if it was signed and notarized.  Was this person getting any consideration for his money, such as an interest in the business or a promise to repay the money with interest, or was it just supposed to be a gift?  Without consideration there is no contract.  Were all the terms worked out, or just the general idea?  Was the intent to execute a more formal agreement at some point?  Was the intent that  you would have a finding agreement only when he gave you the money? In other words, email should not be a problem, but you may have other problems.... Read More

The simple answer is yes, the previous owner violated your rights by using your property to secure a loan.  However, this situation doesn't smell right to me.  When the original owner sold to you, you, in the normal course, would have recorded that deed.  That would have shown up on any title search, and no lender would thereafter have loaned money to the previous owner secured by that property.  Or are you saying that there was another loan secured by the property BEFORE you bought it.  If so, why were you not aware of the loan?  Again, it would have appeared in the title search. Somewhere there's an important piece of the puzzle that I'm not getting.... Read More

What you are alleging is breach of contract. In order for a lawyer to help you determine if your contract has been breached (broken), he or she would have to review the agreement you signed and identify if HEB was required to print coupons featuring your business every month or promote your business elsewhere in lieu of the coupons. The terms of your agreement dictate whether or not you can get out of the agreement. ... Read More

If Texas law is the same as in the states where I practice, and I think it would be in this area, the divorce decision only decided issues between your ex and you, it didn't change your obligations to the credit card company.  If you were liable to pay the credit card bills before the divorce (that is, assuming you didn't have a defense, such as if your ex had forged your name), you are still liable to the credit card company after.  However, you can bring your ex into the lawsuit the credit card company has brought, and sue him to make the payment.  However, if he cannot do so because he's broke, you would still have to pay the credit card company.... Read More

Arbitration is a product of an agreement.  If there is no agreement to arbitrate,  you can't be forced to arbitrate.  In other words, you don't have to do anything affirmative to avoid being forced to arbitrate, you simply have to omit any provision requiring arbitration from the agreement.... Read More

You may need a demand letter prepared letting the contractor know that you've been unable to reach him through traditional means and that you're requesting he return to repair the foundation and driveway. Be sure to give him a deadline to respond and let him know that if he doesn't return to repair the work, you will hire a third party to fix the work and sue him for breach of contract and breach of warranty for the cost of the repair as well as court costs and attorney's fees. Ifhe doesn't respond to your letter, you do have legal remedies available to pursue a lawsuit for the faulty work performed. ... Read More

Many residential leases require that you give a certain amount of notice before moving out. Hopefully you did this. If you waited thirty days from the date you moved out and provided a forwarding address, but you still have not recovered your security deposit or an itemized list of deductions you might write a demand letter asking for the return of your security deposit. Try this before bringing the matter to court. You may have a letter drafted by an attorney to increase the likelihood that your landlord responds.    For more information, please check out the Texas Tenant Advisor website: http://texastenant.org/security_deposit.html... Read More

Because you made this loan three years ago, you need to act fast. The statute of limitations on debt in Texas is four years. This means you have four years from the date he made the last payment to you (which could be as long as three years ago, or more recent if he ever made any payments toward paying you back). You should have a written demand letter prepared for him to put him on notice that you want to be repaid by a certain date or you will see him in small claims court. If he doesn't respond to the letter, you will need to pursue the matter in small claims court.  ... Read More

I need a bit more background information: were you making payments on the car, or did you pay for the car outright for $10,000? Was there an agreement that the title would be placed in your name upon the sale? I'll assume that the you bought the car outright, and the seller suddenly decided to repossess the car. That's definitely a breach of contract and is actionable. The terms of your contract will determine what rights and remedies you have in this situation. The title being still in his name enabled him to have the car towed and returned to him, so that is the primary issue. If you paid the full price for the car, the title should have been signed over. Was there some reason that he could not put the car title in your name? Is he under a financing agreement? Please provide more information if you can. ... Read More

I need more information here. Is the assignment for oil & gas royalties or is this an assignment of a lease? It is very likely the assignment can be negotiated with terms that you can both agree on, but without more information, it is difficult to tell exactly what's happening here. ... Read More