ot: legal aid

[phatphisher]

my uncle owns a supply company overseas that "partnered" up with a wholesale distributor based here in los angeles. they had a gentleman's agreement that my uncle will supply his products exclusively to this distributor. the financial agreement was that the distributor had to pay for the full invoice of every shipment.

initial transactions went well but things have gone south for the past 2 years. my uncle was so loyal to this guy so he kept sending his products every month without getting paid. shipments finally stopped last month and he's been trying to collect. my uncle tried to call the distributor's business, mobile, and home phones but no replies were received. he also tried emails but no luck there.

another factor is that we found out that the distributor's company is in financial trouble. no bankruptcy filing yet but they are out of cash, loans up the gazoo and basically can close doors any time.

can anyone suggest what is a good course of action to collect? this guy apparently has done this type of "robbery" to several overseas distributors. he knows that overseas companies have little money to take legal action against him in the U.S.

what can a small overseas company do to get some money back? anyone know of an affordable attorney that can assist in this matter?

thank ya all.

 

[beefjerkygood]

Did your uncle ship the distributor on a DA basis or did the distributor have to us an LC to receive the goods? If LC, the distributor owes the bank, if DA... .then your uncle probably gave the distro a line of credit, at his own risk. If DA, then your uncle really has little options b/c he's the one who gave the "X" line of credit and continued to ship him goods although the distro didn't pay. If the distro claimes banctruptcy....there's really nothing your uncle can go after... the guy could literally disapear. Not sure of any changes in the law recently but most of the times, the manufacturer takes the loss b/c if he/she extends a line of credit ..it assumes they are taking the credit risk. Next time, tell your uncle if they don't pay, don't ship.. if the distributor is screwing you... screw them.

 

[phatphisher]

the manufacturer gave the distributor a direct line of credit. the actual agreement was to send money as soon as they recieve shipment. the distributor kept promising money to a point where they were sending fake bank wire transmittal forms. my uncle receives the wire receipts but the money never hits his bank. he calls to verify and both sending and receiving bank says the wire receipts are not valid.

 

[hipertec]

get witha collection agency in the states. Since the distributor is in LA, they can go after them with letters and calls. But they will take a big pertantage from the $ they collect.
If it was the other way, where the distributor is out of the country, you will never collect.
So dont give up.

 

[noschmo]

salty esq can take care of this for you. Just a letter on legal stationary might help but overall, I think the remedies will be very limited.