What can I do if a US based import business doesn’t pay their bills? I am based overseas.
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What can I do if a US based import business doesn’t pay their bills? I am based overseas.
Hello
We sell our goods to a US based business ends in Inc. on 60 day credit.
They have stopped communicating with us from last two months and stopped replying to our requests for payments.
We are based overseas but have all the paperwork and invoices.
The US business is owned by one person only and we deal with him.
It’d be greatly helpful to know what can we do to get the invoices paid.
Many Thanks
Asked on April 3, 2017 under Business Law, Alaska
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 7 years ago | Contributor
All you can do is sue the business for the money they owe you. Under U.S. law, if the business is indeed a corporation (hence, the "inc."), then you cannot sue any owner(s) (i.e. shareholders) of the business personally; you can only sue the corporation itself. You would need to sue in the county in which the business is located to make sure you have "jurisdiction," or court power, over it; while there are exceptions, generally, a court only has power over defendants located within the geographic area it covers. Given the potential cost and complexity of suing someone in a different country, unless they owe you well over, say, $10,000, it is unlikely to be worthwhile to take legal action.
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