QUESTION
Doctor Owes Me Money But Sold His Practice, And I Don't Know Where He Is. What Can I Do?
Asked on Dec 03rd, 2013 on General Practice - California
More details to this question:
I had been going to a chiropractor for a little over a year. Around that time, I paid for a package at around $5,000, but shortly after, had to leave the country for a little over a year and he said he couldn't give me a refund but that he would be there when I got back. I just got back recently, called his office and found that he had sold the practice and the new doctor doesn't know his information. I don't know how to find the old doctor and he owes me more than $4K. We never got any notification from him that he was going to be selling his practice. What can I do to find him and get my money back?
1 ANSWER
I can't really help you with finding the old doctor, other than that I don't believe that the new doctor doesn't know how to contact him; it is likely that the new doctor has been paying the old in installments on the sale, and at least knows the lawyer who represented the old doctor in the sale transaction. If you started a lawsuit, you could compel the new doctor to provide you with whatever information he has.
Depending on how the sale of the practice was structured, the new doctor may be obligated to repay you or provide services. For example, if the old doctor operated his business as a corporation, and sold that corporation to the new doctor, the corporation would remain the same and would still be obligated under the contract it made with you. You may want to look into suing the new doctor (or the entity under which he/she operates his/her business.) If you asserted a claim against the new doctor, it is likely that he/she would cross-claim against the old doctor, and you could then assert a direct claim against the old doctor as well.
Answered on Dec 03rd, 2013 at 11:24 AM