Skip to main content

If Donald Trump (or Another Business) Fails to Pay You, Sue!

One of the stories in this election is the accusation by various people and companies that Donald Trump doesn't pay his bills, that Trump often "stiffs" companies he does business with.

A now-retired owner of a music store in New Jersey wrote an article for the Washington Post saying that in 1989 he had a contract to provide pianos to Trump's Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City. He said that he provided the pianos, but later the casino told him it was short on money, it couldn't pay the full $100,000, would he take $70,000?

This gentleman says he was forced to accept the $70,000, taking a loss of $30,000. He said he couldn't afford to hire a lawyer:
They would pay 70 percent of what they owed me. There was no negotiating. I didn’t know what to do — I couldn’t afford to sue the Trump corporation, and I needed money to pay my piano suppliers. So I took the $70,000. 
Well guess what? There are people who do business like that! There are people who do that in every deal they make. I've seen it. And if you think you've been wronged, you have to be prepared to pursue and vindicate your rights.

The gentleman says he could not afford a lawyer, but he could've afforded me. I would represent him at my (current) hourly rate of $200/hour. I would do only as much work as would make financial sense for the client. I would sit down with him and say we can do a, b, and c, and it will cost this much money, or we can do x, y, and z, and it will cost that much money, what do you want to do?

Or maybe I would've looked at the facts and said this is the kind of case I'll take on contingency (1/3 of any eventual recovery).

Or maybe the case could've settled after a few letters between lawyers, and no lawsuit would ever have to be filed. That often happens. When businesses get letters from lawyers, they tend to realize things are serious.

Whether Trump has a habit of this or not, I don't know. But it does happen. People and businesses breach contracts every day. If you feel like you are on the losing side of a bad deal, contact me, and we'll talk about it.


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Know Your Rights: Money/Remedy at Law vs. Equitable Relief

When you bring a lawsuit (or some other kind of action or proceeding) in court, you are asking the court to give you some kind of relief. Generally speaking, that relief is either money (called "damages" or "money damages" or a "remedy at law") or equitable relief. Everyone knows what money is. What is "equitable relief"? It is relief other than money. Some examples of equitable relief (or "relief at equity" or an "equitable remedy") are:  specific performance of a contract -- you entered into a contract with another party for them to do something; they failed to do it; you sue them to force them to perform as they agreed to in the contract an injunction -- you bring an action to make another party do something or stop doing something rescission of contract -- you entered into a contract; you believe there is a problem with the contract, or the other side committed fraud, or the other side can't perform its oblig...
Post a Comment
Read more

Recent Case Developments: Employment Contract Enforceable Against Employer Even Though Not Signed

The plaintiff is a modeling scout. Defendant modeling agency decided to hire him as a modeling scout for $190,000/year, plus bonuses. An employment contract was prepared. One provision of the contact said that if the plaintiff were ever fired without cause, he would be entitled to 6-months severance ($95,000). The contract also said that it could be signed in counterparts. The plaintiff signed the contract on August 18, 2015 and emailed his signature to the modeling agency. One of the agency's board members emailed back, saying "Welcome aboard. We'll countersign over the next few days." But no one from the agency ever signed the contract. Nevertheless, the plaintiff began working as a modeling scout, and the agency paid him according to the contract. But after six months, the agency decided to terminate him, without cause. The agency then refused to pay him the $95,000 severance, and the plaintiff brought a lawsuit for breach of contract. The modeling agency m...
Post a Comment
Read more

Recent Case Developments: Contractor Entitled to be Paid For Extra Work Not Part of Original Contract

On September 12, 2013, the Town of Kent (Putnam County) entered into a contract with a contractor to build a sewer.  During construction, certain "conditions that were unexpected and unanticipated" arose, requiring the contractor to do "extra" work--things beyond the scope of work of the original contract. (The appeals court doesn't detail what this extra work was.) The contractor performed the extra work, totaling around $380,000 in additional costs. For reasons not stated by the appeals court, the Town refused to pay for this extra work, and the contractor eventually sued the Town in May, 2015.  The contractor moved for summary judgment in the lower court (a kind of mini-trial on paper), and the court awarded judgment in favor of the contractor for the $380,000.  The Town appealed, but the appeals court sided with the contractor, saying that even though this "extra" work was not within the scope of work of the original contract, the con...
Post a Comment
Read more