Hello there.. I opened a tattoo studio with a so called good friend credit was shabby but I had the money to open the business so what we did was put the store lease and business licence in the partners name till we succured the location then we were supposed to go to a lawyer and have everything drawn up in writing but before this happen I when back to the shop and tried my key and the locks were changed... since then it has been about 7 months and I have not seen a penny of this money.. it was all a verbal agreement what I was wondering was if a verbal agreement and a witness is solid enough to go to court with and fource this to pay me back

Well what was the business agreement. So it appears that if you were a partner you own 1/2 of the business ( is that correct ?)
Is the busiess making money,

Yes it was agreed that I was to be a 50-50 partner... this biz has to be making money thye are open still... I have deen on there web site that they say they are so busy they are turning people awy they paid for radio adds flyer order extra stock bought new stuff for the shop but refuse to pay me back my money I have more than one witness that herd us in talks about how things were to be split up... 50-50 even the broke who rented us the spot is a good friend of mine and one of the only reason we got the spot was because ei knew this guy well that was the broker. I feel I'm being laughted at and used an walked all over... I also herd he doid this before to someone else but I'm still trying to figure out who it was so I can contact them to find out more info on his past biz dealings

In order to sue successfully, you must prove that you had a binding agreement. Since it is not in writing that may be difficult. It would depend on whether your witnesses are believable. But since your friend is obviously dishonest he could present his own witnesses to say you did not have an agreement.

If you sue and lose you, the legal expenses will make your lesson even more expensive.

And when you go into the business that you own 1/2 of during business hours what happens.

If the landlord knows you own 1/2 then you can enter the building anytime you want since you are one of the renters.

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Originally Posted by walt17

In order to sue successfully, you must prove that you had a binding agreement. Since it is not in writing that may be difficult.

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Hello a:

Walt hit the nail on the head - kind of...

You DO have to prove that you were a partner, but I don't think that's going to be difficult at all. True, you don't have a written agreement... But, you DO have yours and his ACTIONS!

If you can prove that the ACTIONS of the individuals indicates that there WAS a partnership, then the court will rule that there WAS a partnership

Employees have a pay-scales and paychecks... You don't have any of those, so you WEREN'T an employee.

Contractors have goods and services they deliver, and they receive 1099's. You didn't get one of those, so you WEREN'T a contractor.

So, if you did work for this firm, and you weren't an employee, and you weren't a contractor, there's only one thing left you could be - and that's a partner.

Now, $12K isn't really enough to hire a lawyer for, and it's TOO much to sue for in small claims court... If it were me, I'd take the bath and sue in small claims.

excon