Legal Question in Business Law in California

Obligation on Late Invoice

Whether you can be billed at this late date depends in part on the agreement you had with the other company. If they promised to invoice you within a given timeframe and then failed to do so, you might be able to justify refusing to pay funds which you can no longer collect from your own client. Depending on the circumstances, however, you might have had an obligation to either check with the vendor before finalizing your dealings with your own client, or else inform the client that there was one more bill pending.

Ordinarily, the statute of limitations on written contracts in California is four years; the statute for oral contracts is one year. If you have a written contract, they may still be able to bill you even at this late date, because four years have not elapsed. If you had an oral contract, you might still have to pay if the contract is "executory" (e.g., if the other party actually did what they promised to do), or you might have to pay the reasonable value of the services actually performed.

You may still be able to obtain reimbursement from your client; I am not sure why you believe otherwise. Of course, the specifics of your dealings with your client might now prevent you from seeking reimbursement. I would need to know more about the nature of your contracts with both of these parties before I could give you a more definitive answer.

You say that you believe you have suffered damages, but this isn't quite correct. You (presumably) haven't paid the bill yet, so you haven't suffered a loss. Had you been damaged you could become a plaintiff in a lawsuit against the vendor, but there is no basis for such a suit if you still have your money. On the other hand, the vendor may try to name you as defendant in a suit for the fee they claim to be owed, which they will claim as damages. I think this prospect is a more immediate concern than the possibility of suing the vendor.

I am also curious about your statement that the vendor "claims" to have failed to send you the invoice previously. Do you think you might have received a timely bill and failed to pay it?

If you wish to contact me with more of these details, I will be happy to discuss the matter with you further.