NJ
I am selling my business and have had it on the market for several months. Had several different offers and apparently the business was in great demand. One of the parties gave me 5000 dollars in the beginning of October to take the business off the market as they wanted to make sure they were a lock for the purchase, which I did. I asked them to have a contract drawn up prior to me accepting any sort of monies (to protect everyone's interest). They did not want to delay and expressed the contract was just a formality and they were more interested in preventing other buyers from taking "their" business. In any event, they wanted the transfer of ownership to take place no later than Nov 1.
On Oct 15ish I started to urge them to put something in writing. They claimed that their lawyer was on top of matters. It comes to light that they never had their attorney do a thing. Not a thing! Nov 1 was during the hurricane so obviously that date was not going to happen for a closing. I called literally every day inquiring as to the status.
Yesterday, I received a voice mail from the buyer stating that if I didn't accept a 50,000 reduction (35% reduction), he was not going any further and wanted his money refunded. Ironic since he didn�t do anything anyway.
Is he entitled to receive his money back? There was never any language written or spoken that allowed for the return. In fact, I was the one pushing for legal representation from the beginning so that something like this would not occur. They claimed the money handed over was to prevent further solicitation of my business and to ensure them that the pre negotiated sale price would be honored. Once again, they didn't want ANYTHING in writing.
So now I'm stuck with no buyers, a business that is prepared to be sold, staff that now knows the business is being sold, customers knowing, etc. In fact, the buyer has been running around town telling everyone that he's the new owner. He also had words with one of my staff which led to that employee walking out the door and never to be seen again.
Right is right and I plan on putting the business back on the market. Should I find a buyer at the same price, I will gladly return his money. If it�s at a lower price, I will gladly send him the difference.
Again, this was NEVER a traditional deposit; they just wanted to ensure that there was no longer any further solicitation. There were no contingencies. Nothing in writing that stated that in the event... To be honest, I never would have never taken the business off the market if I believed that their money was refundable just because they changed their mind. Of course now, they are claiming it was a deposit to bind a contract. There was never a contract to bind. I wanted one, but they did not (for whatever reason).
I'm disgusted at how these people operate and can't help but feel as though this was a strategic move on their part.
Can someone please tell me my options? Thank you.
I am selling my business and have had it on the market for several months. Had several different offers and apparently the business was in great demand. One of the parties gave me 5000 dollars in the beginning of October to take the business off the market as they wanted to make sure they were a lock for the purchase, which I did. I asked them to have a contract drawn up prior to me accepting any sort of monies (to protect everyone's interest). They did not want to delay and expressed the contract was just a formality and they were more interested in preventing other buyers from taking "their" business. In any event, they wanted the transfer of ownership to take place no later than Nov 1.
On Oct 15ish I started to urge them to put something in writing. They claimed that their lawyer was on top of matters. It comes to light that they never had their attorney do a thing. Not a thing! Nov 1 was during the hurricane so obviously that date was not going to happen for a closing. I called literally every day inquiring as to the status.
Yesterday, I received a voice mail from the buyer stating that if I didn't accept a 50,000 reduction (35% reduction), he was not going any further and wanted his money refunded. Ironic since he didn�t do anything anyway.
Is he entitled to receive his money back? There was never any language written or spoken that allowed for the return. In fact, I was the one pushing for legal representation from the beginning so that something like this would not occur. They claimed the money handed over was to prevent further solicitation of my business and to ensure them that the pre negotiated sale price would be honored. Once again, they didn't want ANYTHING in writing.
So now I'm stuck with no buyers, a business that is prepared to be sold, staff that now knows the business is being sold, customers knowing, etc. In fact, the buyer has been running around town telling everyone that he's the new owner. He also had words with one of my staff which led to that employee walking out the door and never to be seen again.
Right is right and I plan on putting the business back on the market. Should I find a buyer at the same price, I will gladly return his money. If it�s at a lower price, I will gladly send him the difference.
Again, this was NEVER a traditional deposit; they just wanted to ensure that there was no longer any further solicitation. There were no contingencies. Nothing in writing that stated that in the event... To be honest, I never would have never taken the business off the market if I believed that their money was refundable just because they changed their mind. Of course now, they are claiming it was a deposit to bind a contract. There was never a contract to bind. I wanted one, but they did not (for whatever reason).
I'm disgusted at how these people operate and can't help but feel as though this was a strategic move on their part.
Can someone please tell me my options? Thank you.