Legal Question in Business Law in Washington
Breached contract
I signed a contract with a company only to find out later I was under contract for the same service with another company. The new company made misleading statements,leading me to believe that if I did have another contract it wasn't binding and they would handle it if one did appear. Well, one did appear, and I was being threatened with a $27,000 lawsuit.
I spoke with the salesman who signed me to the new contract on several occasions regarding this. His response was that before it came to legal action I could switch back to the original company. After checking with a attorney to see if they really had a valid claim, and being told they were within their rights to hold me to the original contract I thru in the towel and switched back. Now the new company is threating a lawsuit of their own for breach of THEIR contract. Just where do I stand?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Breached contract
First: Write an account of all conversations with people from the new company. Include--insofar as your memory allows--date, time, name of person, phone number, exact words spoken, witnesses to conversation, and other pertinent information.
Gather all paperwork for both contracts, putting them in some reasonable order.
Next: Go to an attorney. He may be able to resolve the matter with a stern letter. It sounds from your limited description that you have a good claim because you relied on their misrepresentation.
Re: Breached contract
The key to sorting this all out is probably in the written contracts. If skillfully prepared, they will spell out all of the duties and rights of the parties. Where there is a conflict, as in your situation, then it may be necessary to refer to other evidence, such as your conversations with the second company. You also will want to look for contract provisions relating to arbitration of disputes and attorney fees for the prevailing party.
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