Legal Question in Business Law in California

Re: Vendor debt

It's understandable that the vendor wants to be paid according to the terms of the contract or contracts and not be in a position of effectively becoming a lender to a former customer that's experiencing financial difficulties. It is not a bank. It is under no duty to alter the terms of sale to give you a break. Whether it should give you easier terms or not is a business question, but as a strictly legal matter, it may refuse.

You could, of course, try to engage the creditor in a negotiation, and using a lawyer to make the attempt on your behalf is among the possibilities. Without really studying your overall situation, I could not make a recommendation one way or the other.

Among the factors possibly influencing a choice of tactics is whether the creditor is poised to sue you, the relative amount of the debt, the reasons your vendor-client relationship broke down, and whether you are seen as having "deep pockets."

One possible consequence of introducing a lawyer into the situation is to make the creditor think there is an escalation of the stakes and instead of collection attempts it may go directly to a lawsuit.