Sold Business

[orlando]

We sold our hotel/restaurant in 2007 signing the acte du vente on the fonds de commerce in January of that year. We had run the business under the SARL regime. The purchasers of the business were taken round the premises before the signature to check everyhing and shown what functioned and what didn't. The purchasers were fine and went ahead and signed the Acte du vente - our part was signed by our notaire as we had moved to another country.

Around two months later we received an email from the estate agent saying that the purchasers were unhappy that some items did not function. I directed them to the notaire and reminded the agent that the purchasers had checked everything before signing and it all worked when we had left.

 In July 2007 we decided to put the SARL into 'liquidation judiciare' as bills seemed to be mounting up, we were running a business in another country, and were advised by the notaire that this was a sensible course of action.

In October 2007 my parents ( who had guaranteed the original business loan) recieved a letter from Credit Agricole demanding the repayment of the loan or risk legal action. I contacted CA who by that time had not received any payment from the notaire. I informed CA that the business had been sold and the SARL dissolved. CA claimed that they were unaware of this situation but backed off from threatening my parents.

I wrote by email to both the notaire and our accountants to ask them what had happened but received no reply from either (I have never received any reply to any enquiry from our ex-accountants since we left France).

Two days ago I wrote to CA, the notaire, and the accountant to check that the affair was now resolved. I only received a reply from CA who said that they had not received all funds from the sale but just a 'compte'.

 The original purchasers admitted that they had not paid any monies until October 2007 (10 months after the acte du vente) which is what caused the SARL to continue to be liable for certain bills.

 I was unaware that purchasers could delay payment unilaterally or did I miss something in all of this? If any readers have any expertise or can point to an appropriate professional I would much appreciate it.

 

Many Thanks

 

[Tony F Dordogne]

In your position, I would contact an advocate, it's a technical area of law and I think you need professional advice.