Any lawyers here?

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Posted By: Ryan Christoff

Since I am one of maybe 2 or 3 non-lawyers on this board, I'm hoping I can get some help from one of you legal eagles to assist me in completing a transaction.

It may seem off-topic, but it is not. The cards in the transaction were all vintage and others might learn from it. I obviously have the most learning to do. Here is the situation:

A little over a month ago I completed a deal with collector for a group of very rare cards. Several were from my personal collection and the nicest examples known, which I replaced with lesser examples. The total amount was nearly 6 figures. Part of the terms I agreed to was that I would fly to the collector's city and hand-deliver the cards in person. We both agreed that it was the safest way. If they had been lost during shipment, even if the full insured amount had been paid, it would have been an unbearable loss due to the importance and scarcity of the cards.

I flew down and had lunch with the collector and we spent several hours talking about vintage cards and baseball in general. I felt we really hit it off and was pleased the way it went. That day I received slightly less than half the total amount, which was what we had agreed upon. The rest was to be paid in a few weeks. We wrote out a contract that he signed saying he was buying X number of cards for X dollars and owed X amount to be paid within 30 days. Rather than take the rest of the cards back with me and then ship them out at a later date, I decided to leave the cards with him. I know this sounds incredibly naive and stupid. This collector has been a major buyer of vintage cards and done business with MANY members of this board. For what he collects, he has amassed one of the finest collections in the hobby. There have been several threads here wanting to know more about him. Please do not ask who it is and if you think you know, please keep it to yourself as that is irrelevant to my question. I do not mean to slight him in any way.

I waited patiently expecting to be paid a week or two after I delivered the cards. The worst case scenario would be waiting the full 30 days, or so I figured. All of this money has already been allocated toward other purchases that are on hold until I receive payment.

It's now been over 30 days and for the last two weeks I have been trying to get an answer as to when I can expect payment. We have basically been playing phone tag, but I have repeatedly asked for him to just leave me a message with an approximate date, but have not received one. He is incredibly busy (I got to witness this first-hand during our lunch) but it seems like we're past the point where that can justify not answering my inquiry. I haven't been demanding about it and am very easy to work with when people need extra time to pay. I run regular auctions every 3 months and when someone who is a regular bidder wins something they often receive their items before they even send payment out. I have not had a single problem doing business this way.

Wow, sorry this is becoming a novel. Here is my question: Is there anything I can legally do that will help me receive payment? I do have the contract in my possession. I've never felt that his intentions were to rip me off and not pay me at all. I think he just needed more time, although never mentioned that to me. At this point, I don't have any more time to give because I have other deals that hinge upon me getting this money and it's nearing a point where it is unfair to those that are having to wait. I should not have told these people that I would have the money within 30 days, even though I expected to. Getting paid from this other deal is not something I can control and it was a mistake on my part to promise something I had no control over.

The most concerning part to me is the lack of communication. I really don't know what to do so I thought I would reach out to other board members who may have had similar experiences in the past that could offer some advice. You don't need to be a lawyer to respond, but if there is a simple legal solution known, I would love to hear it. I'd imagine it would depend on the state where the transaction took place. E-mail me privately and I will tell you the state.

Thanks for any and all help offered. Sorry to clog the board up with my personal problems.

-Ryan Christoff