MaineWhat is the name of your state?
My husband and I purchased a business from a woman about two years ago. We signed an agreement to pay her a certain amount per month until the purchase price was paid off. We have until November of 2006 until it is complete.
The business has been doing very poorly. It became obvious that she had "stretched the truth" about the amount of profit it made. However, nothing in the contract we signed stated anything about that so I know it is really a non issue.
The real problem is; we both lost our jobs last Fall and were unemployed for six months. We obviously fell behind in many of the bills relating to this business. We would like to sell the business, but because of its poor profitability have been unable to do so. Rather than continue to go further into debt we decided to close and return the equipment to the previous owner. However,I received a letter from her yesterday that said that if we attempted to return the business to her she would refuse and sue us for the money.
Do I have any options at this point? We are strapped for cash. Both of us are working now, but at drastic pay cuts from our previous jobs. I don't see any way that we can continue to run the business with no extra cash to subsidize it and I cannot make payments to her from our own salaries alone. What will a court order us to do?
My husband and I purchased a business from a woman about two years ago. We signed an agreement to pay her a certain amount per month until the purchase price was paid off. We have until November of 2006 until it is complete.
The business has been doing very poorly. It became obvious that she had "stretched the truth" about the amount of profit it made. However, nothing in the contract we signed stated anything about that so I know it is really a non issue.
The real problem is; we both lost our jobs last Fall and were unemployed for six months. We obviously fell behind in many of the bills relating to this business. We would like to sell the business, but because of its poor profitability have been unable to do so. Rather than continue to go further into debt we decided to close and return the equipment to the previous owner. However,I received a letter from her yesterday that said that if we attempted to return the business to her she would refuse and sue us for the money.
Do I have any options at this point? We are strapped for cash. Both of us are working now, but at drastic pay cuts from our previous jobs. I don't see any way that we can continue to run the business with no extra cash to subsidize it and I cannot make payments to her from our own salaries alone. What will a court order us to do?