Tuesday, July 7, 2009

IOU's - breach of contract?

Genesis wrote:
Quote:
Just wondering something here. If I am providing goods and/or services to Calif. and they decide to pay me in IOU's, is that a breach of contract and can I bail legally?

I would consider it as such.

When I ran my ISP we provided service to the Chicago Library system. They decided they'd start paying late (beyond the 30 day terms.) They were warned repeatedly about this - I eventually got tired of it and simply shut down all their accounts and circuits.

They HOWLED - LOUDLY - as ALL of their patrons instantly lost access in their branches, including the big downtown building.

Tough ****. They didn't pay and I didn't agree to extend credit beyond the customary Net 30 terms.

An hour later - literally - we had a hand-delivered check.
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How do you "legally" force someone to credit a promissory note after the fact?
This is a check that the issuer is admitting is drawn against an empty account, how do you "order" a private business to honor it?
Yeah, you could twist their arms a bit, make some threats about their bank charters being reviewed, etc... (all probably illegal to do, BTW), but you can't force a business to accept them.

These IOU's are at best a "post dated check with interest", or, at worst, funds drawn on an insolvent account, period.

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