Breach Of Contract Legal Questions

Most lawyers will NOT take such a case on a contingent fee basis in a vacuum and those that agree to you should be very wary of. While it is common that LL enage in such conduct routinely, the collection aspect is the most complicated as many small or single famly home LL are effectvively judgment proof or more likely to run to file bankruptcy when hit with a substantial judgment. On a positive note, Fla. Stat. 83.48 allow you to get reimbursed for legal fees you expend in such a lawsuit and these get added to the judgment and typically would allow you to keep all the damages awarded. We handle such cases routinely and only represent tenants in that regard. ... Read More

A lease must be in writing.  The texts can be a writing.  However, it is unclear if what you have adds up to an agreement.  No one does this type of deal without a writing.  You may have a claim, but how will you prove damages?  Depending on the size of your claim, it may be a small claim you can do yourself.... Read More

This sounds like a standard commercial breach of contract case. In the future NEVER pay for all the work up front. Now you will have to spend more money hiring a lawyer to sue over the contract breach issue and go from there. You need to do this ASAP if they are not willing to resolve the issue. ... Read More

Federal courts have limited jurisdiction.  They can only hear cases involving a federal question (e.g. a case claiming violation of a federal statute) or a case for more than $100,000 between citizens of different states.  Assuming the Bacas live in the same state as you, I don't see any basis to sue in Federal court.... Read More

It's not clear to me whether you invested in the company, as you first say, or loaned it money.  If you loaned it money and it has breached the loan contract, you can sue it for breach of contract.  If you invested, assuming that there was no fraud, waste or other wrongdoing, you may be out of luck.  There is never any guarantee that an investment will make money.... Read More

It appears that you have a good claim that the non-compete clause is null and void due to the other party having materially breached hte contract by failing to pay you in a timely fashion.  In addition, non-compete clauses are looked are scrutinized closely by courts, and it may be that yours would be deemed unenforceable regardless of any breach.  However, you can't expect the other party to simply agree that your obligation is cancelled, or any third party to take a chance that the clause may be enforced.  You have to sue to get a court to declare that you are not obligated.... Read More

Unless you have a contract providing you with the right to place a lien on his house even before you have won your dispute, you can't do so until and unless you have sued and obtained judgment in your favor.  From your question I can tell that you will have several obstacles to overcome in order to prevail in such a suit.  First, the statute of limitations.  By your account, the first breach occurred more than a decade ago, well beyond the statute of limitations for a breach of contract claim.  You contend that the contract was modified, apparently orally, and you agreed to defer interest payments,so that the breach didn't occur until you weren't paid after sale.  While this may be true, I'm not sure you can prove it, and it is likely that your written contract, if it was drafted by an attorney, provides that it can't be modified orally.   Also, if the transaction is treated as a loan, rather than an investment (which seems likely; investments can be lost if the business does poorly, but allow you to share in the profits if the business does well - since there doesn't seem to be any risk of loss here, it looks like a loan to me) the 4% of gross sales  is likely to be considered interest.  If so, unless gross sales are very small compared to the amount of the loan, this amount is likely to be above the legal limit for interest.  It is not legal to charge any interest you want, for example the limit for interest charged against an individual in NY is 16% annually; I don't know what it is in Florida.  Another issue is who was responsible for repaying you, your friend or his business.  If it was his business, and the business is an entity (e.g. a corporation or an llc), your friend is not, on the face of it, PERSONALLY liable for the interest payments, the entity is, and if the entity has no money, you're out of luck.  You can't satisfy your claim against the entity from your friend's PERSONAL assets, although there are exceptions which allow you to "pierce the corporate veil", and I don't know enough facts to know if you have any chance to do that.  Finally, when you accepted the check for the principal, did you reserve any rights to claim the rest?  If not you may (I emphasisze may) have waived your right to claim more.... Read More