New York Contracts Legal Questions

Under New York law and the law of most states (it is likely but not certain that New York law would apply to this situation), contracts with minors are valid, but they are voidable at the option of minor.  In other words, the other side would be bound, but you would not be because you can void the contract as long as you remain a minor.  Thus, it is not that you cannot sign a contract - you can.  It is that the person or entity with whom you are contracting would not be willing to accept just your signature because they would gain no protection from the agreement.  That is why those employing minors, like modeling agencies, sign contracts with the parents, not the models.  If your parents signed an agreement that you would not disclose trade secrets, that should be valid and binding, but the question is really a practical one - the online business accept your parents' signature?   If so, fine.  If not, you cannot force it to do so.... Read More

That is up to the rent a center.  Barring something in the contract which expressly prohibits it, rent a center can hire a collection agency to try to collect on the debt it claims, or it can sell the contract to another person or entity who will then try to collect.  You do have certain rights with regard to unfair collection practices, however, most of which are codified in the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, a federal statute.... Read More

He should be worried both civilly and criminally. I would not surprised if he is contacted by the authorities who are looking into bringing a criminal prosecution. He should be thinking of having a criminal lawyer available if necessary. He would be prudent to speak to an  criminal defense attorney before he speaks with any law enforcement authorities.... Read More

Unless you have agreed to the new terms, they do not apply. If the original contract has not terminated or been legally terminated, you should be able to continue performing under it and being paid appropriately. This is not intended to be legal advice, and is general in its  nature. No attorney-client relationship exists or is formed by this information. Furthermore, this does not represent the views or opinions of LexisNexis or its affiliated companies.... Read More

A contract can specificaly provide for what happens on a default.  Assuming it does not, and one party breaches a material term of the contract (the contract may define what is a material breach - otherwise it is a little nebulous, but generally it means a breach of an important term going to the purpose of the contract) the non-defaulting party generally has a choice.  He or she can either rescind the contract, in which case neither party would have any further obligations under the contract (not all contracts can be rescinded, depending on the extent ofperformance has occurred under them) or continue to honor the contract and seek damages (generally with a lawsuit) for the other party's breach.  Thus, if the other side has breached a material term of the contract, you may not have to perform under it anymore.  However, it is very doubtful that the other side will just agree with you that they have breached the contract, or, if so, that it was a material breach, and the issue may have to be decided by a court.  Also, you write that the other side has defaulted on the contract three times.  If the same provision was breached each time, it is possible that, by failing to take any action the first two times the contract was breached, you have waived your right to enforce the provision which you claim was breached.... Read More

You can sue for the full balance and also sue for punitive damages. The action for the full balance is based upon the written agreement that you entered into with the vendor. The punitive damages are awarded by the trier of fact (Judge or Jury, whichever is applicable) if it is deemed that the conduct of the vendor was so abhorrent that an award of punitive damages would serve the interests of the public in preventing similar conduct by others in the future.... Read More

Assuming that the husband had the authority to lease the space to you, you've complied with it (i.e. you've paid the rent on time) and the lease does not contain provisions requiring you to vacate under these conditions, your lease continues to be valid.  Have you seen the Court order requiring you to vacate?  From the limited information you've provided, it does not seem that the wife should have been able to get such an order without you having an opportunity to present your case, so it may be that no such order exists, or if one does exist, it may be based on the wife having failed to tell the court the true facts.  If so, you may be able to have the order overturned, but you will have to apply to the Court to do so.   Even assuming that the court order is real and legitimate, it may not require you to vacate by December 1.  Since you give no indication of having to any eviction proceedings, it is hard to tel what stage these proceedings have reached.  You cannot simply rely on the wife's word.  You must find out what is actually gong on.  You must obtain a copy of this supposed court order, and all the other documentation which led up to it.   If it turns out that the order is really valid because the husband did not have authority to lease the space to you, for example if he was not really an owner of the property but lied and told you he was, you may have a claim against him for the damages you sustained by reason of his fraud.... Read More

It is valid, but I suggest asking signer to mail signed original to you.There is no set minimum or maximum term for agreement, but I suggest looking at how long you are concerned about keeping the matters undisclosed and then permit agreement to lapse. This is not intended to be legal advice, and is general in  its nature. No attorney-client relationship exists or is formed by this information. Furthermore, this does represent the views or opinions of LexisNexis or its affiliated companies.... Read More

Your attorney's appearance as attorney of record, in and of itself, should have no bearing on the validity or enforceability of your settlement agreement.  However, if you are claiming that your attorney had no authority to enter into such an agreement on your behalf (assuming that he entered into such agreement without your knowledge or approval) the fact that he never filed an appearance on your behalf could be evidence of that lack of authority, whereas if he had filed an appearance as your attorney, that would be strong evidence that he had, at least, "apparent authority" to settle the case on your behalf.... Read More

It seems to me that you should be consulting a litigator who handles legal malpractice cases to see what, if any, claims you should bring against the lawyer. This is not intended to be legal advice, and is general in nature. No attorney-client relationship exists or is formed by this information. Furthermore, this does not represent the views or opinions of LexisNexis or its affiliated companies.  ... Read More

Frankly, I have a little difficulty determining the exact circumstances you face from your description.  From what you've written about placing a deposit according to to the terms of sale, with due dates for the remaining payment and delivery, it seems that you have an express contract.  Whether the supplier's cancelation of that contract would constitute a breach depends on the terms of the contract, which in turn, assuming that cancelation was not an issue with which you explicitly dealt in the contract, might depend on your course of business with this vendor, or the custom and usage in your industry.  If cancelation is a breach, you may be able to recover damages.  While it will probably be very difficult to prove any lost profits damages, an alternate remedy would be to recover any amounts you laid out in reliance on the supplier's promise to perform.... Read More

S corp contracts can be of any kind. A way to keep the corp in the family is for all of the shareholders to sign a shareholders' agreement that restricts the transfer of company stock to acceptable people or relatives as enumerated of under certain circumstances permits the other shareholders or the S corp to buy back the stock. This os not intended to be legal advice, and is general in nature. No attorney-client relationship exists or is formed by this information. Furthermore, this does not represent the views or opinions of LexisNexis or its affiliated companies. ... Read More

It seems to me that an enforceable contract was created because B accepted A's offer by his conduct so that A is now obligated to accept the second payment. This is not intended to be legal advice , and is general in nature. No attorney relationship exists or is formed by this information. furthermore, this does not represent the views or opinions of LexisNexis or its affiliated companies,... Read More