What legal right does a sellerhave to repossessproperty for non-payment?

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What legal right does a sellerhave to repossessproperty for non-payment?

Our non-profit ministry (in TN) sold a trailer to another business (in AL) for $12k. According to our agreement which was written in the form of a sales rreceipt, they made an initial non-refundable down payment of $5k on 4/28/10, with the balance of 7k due on or before 7/19/10. Despite repeated attempts to collect the balance including issuing them a payment request via PayPal (so they could pay with a credit card), they have failed to pay. We have the title in hand, the signed sales receipt stating the terms of our agreement, e-mails andtexts stating that the PayPal payment would be taken care of. What is the procedure that I need to do?

Asked on August 17, 2010 under Bankruptcy Law, Tennessee

Answers:

M.T.G., Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 13 years ago | Contributor

You need to seek legal consultation and have the attorney read your receipt to see if it constitutes a legal agreement of some sort to sue on.  What you are hoping is that it constitutes a contract, although oral contracts are enforceable in certain situations as well.  Submission of e-mails as confirmation of the agreement and the terms may or may not be accepted. In this day and age I would think that they are fine and constitute a "writing" but I do not know for sure about your area.  You will have to sue the business for return of the trailer. The ministry may or may not be able to sue in a small claims situation.  That varies by state. Good luck.


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