Legal Question in Business Law in California

Re: payment for services & materials

You are setting yourself up for a lawsuit which will include numerous causes of action including breach of contract. More likely than not if this is a written contract it will have an attorney's fees clause in it. That means that if you are found responsible for the breach of contract you're also will be responsible for a portion if not all of their attorneys fees in having to collect the money. That not only means the attorneys fees for filing a lawsuit and litigating it but the collection of all of the money. This can be quite costly. You might be mixing oranges and apples and but I understand from a business standpoint your question. There may be other means of dealing with the problem but sure question was too sketchy. I am in the San Francisco Bay Area and if you wish to consult with me one phone number is 925 -- 945 -- 6000

Re: payment for services & materials

Each of several contracts between the same parties must be performed according to its own terms unless the contracts are cross-connected by some master agreement or something buried in the terms of the separate contracts.

X can sue Y on one contract that is in breach notwithstanding that other contracts between X and Y may be disputed by Y.

Withholding payment like this, although not legal, is often resorted to in order to get the attention of the other party to the disputed matter and to attempt to enforce negotiation and settlement.

Re: payment for services & materials

Thank you for your inquiry.

Generally speaking, a customer cannot withhold payments on invoices related to another project that is being disputed.

Withholding will almost certaintly be construed as acting unreasonably and a breach of the contract (depending of course on the terms of the contract itself).

Please feel free to contact me directly at 619.233.0900 if I may be of further assistance.

Sincerely,

Linda Decker

Re: payment for services & materials

Thank you very much for your posting and your inquiry.

Typically, with a contract for services, any written or oral agreement would set the terms for performance -- and for payment.

In your case, it sounds as though the customer is unreasonably withholding payment for an issue unrelated to the contract. That gives you the right to declare breach and sue for the contract amount, and even place a contractors lien on any property at issue.

I hope that this information helps you, but if you have further questions, want more information, or feel that you need legal representation, please feel free to email me directly at [email protected]. It's my pleasure to assist in any way that I can.