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Sale of Business based on false information

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ljerar

Guest
I am not sure that i am in the right forum but am wondering what i can and should do about the following:

I purchased a business about 6 years ago that i was previously an employee of. The contract stated mainly the price and some assets and some other things. 14000 dollars to be paid as a percentage of sales with a lien on the assets. In addition earnouts would be paid as a percentage of the sales until a certain number of years. The previous owner made a copy of the addition that we both initialed and then when i returned home i noticed that that copy wasnt there and he for some reason couldnt find his copy either so he faxed me something completelyl different which basically said that in addition another 14000 will be paid as a percentage of sales for a total of 28000. His fax means nothing right as we never initialed that whatsoever?

Second, not in the contract but the fact that he promised a yellow page ad to be in the phone book that year which was not. Can i do anything there? I was an employee of the company and had signed a non compete agreement and while negotiating the price mentioned that i could just start my own company however, he mentioned that i couldnt because i had a non compete agreement. But what would i be competing against if the yellow page ad wasnt there (something that is decided nine months before publishing therefore, the business was not going to exist according to the previous owners actions of not renewing the yellow page ad)

Third, this last year I found an amendment to his business plan on the computer that was sold to me as i was transferring some information. That amendment which was dated more than a year before my purchase said that the company was no longer going to exist. That certainly makes the non compete agreement that i had signed as an employee nonexistent but which he used to threaten me so I couldnt start my own company. Isnt that true? During a couple of months preparing to purchase the business I specifically asked for the companies financial information and the business plan if any. I recieved partial financial information and the business plan without that amendment.

I would not have purchased this company if i was aware of that pertinent information of the amendment as well as the yellow page ad. Would any of this have any legal weight whatsoever? Isn't witholding of documents a crime? What should i do at this point? He is a person that likes to be right that likes to win no matter what the cost and he can definately afford the legal resources. Is there anything that i could or should do.

Thank you for any advice you may have about what i should or shouldnt do but please not about what i should have done or should have not done. And please tell me if i should post this in a different forum?

Thank you
 


HomeGuru

Senior Member
ljerar said:
I am not sure that i am in the right forum but am wondering what i can and should do about the following:

I purchased a business about 6 years ago that i was previously an employee of. The contract stated mainly the price and some assets and some other things. 14000 dollars to be paid as a percentage of sales with a lien on the assets. In addition earnouts would be paid as a percentage of the sales until a certain number of years. The previous owner made a copy of the addition that we both initialed and then when i returned home i noticed that that copy wasnt there and he for some reason couldnt find his copy either so he faxed me something completelyl different which basically said that in addition another 14000 will be paid as a percentage of sales for a total of 28000. His fax means nothing right as we never initialed that whatsoever?

Second, not in the contract but the fact that he promised a yellow page ad to be in the phone book that year which was not. Can i do anything there? I was an employee of the company and had signed a non compete agreement and while negotiating the price mentioned that i could just start my own company however, he mentioned that i couldnt because i had a non compete agreement. But what would i be competing against if the yellow page ad wasnt there (something that is decided nine months before publishing therefore, the business was not going to exist according to the previous owners actions of not renewing the yellow page ad)

Third, this last year I found an amendment to his business plan on the computer that was sold to me as i was transferring some information. That amendment which was dated more than a year before my purchase said that the company was no longer going to exist. That certainly makes the non compete agreement that i had signed as an employee nonexistent but which he used to threaten me so I couldnt start my own company. Isnt that true? During a couple of months preparing to purchase the business I specifically asked for the companies financial information and the business plan if any. I recieved partial financial information and the business plan without that amendment.

I would not have purchased this company if i was aware of that pertinent information of the amendment as well as the yellow page ad. Would any of this have any legal weight whatsoever? Isn't witholding of documents a crime? What should i do at this point? He is a person that likes to be right that likes to win no matter what the cost and he can definately afford the legal resources. Is there anything that i could or should do.

Thank you for any advice you may have about what i should or shouldnt do but please not about what i should have done or should have not done. And please tell me if i should post this in a different forum?

Thank you
**A: consult with a business law attorney. The same one that you should have hired before buying the business.
 

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