What are my rights regarding the breaking of a contract?

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What are my rights regarding the breaking of a contract?

I have a landscaping company. I was contracted by a management company to preform services. The contract is set up that they have a seasonal price broken up into monthly installments, so essentially you break even over time. The largest part of the work is involved in the beginning with spring clean up and mulch. This is where the bulk of my out of pocket expenses come from. The contracts do state that they may terminate at any time for any reason. They cancelled my contracts with no reason right after we preformed the larger services and only paid my company for one months of service. I would like to be compensated for the work that was done. Is this possible? They are also out of state; if I file suit against them do I file in my state?

Asked on June 2, 2013 under Business Law, Kentucky

Answers:

S.L,. Member, California Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 10 years ago | Contributor

You can sue the management company for breach of contract.  Your damages (the amount of compensation you are seeking in your lawsuit would be the amount you are owed).

In an installment contract, if the management company is claiming that there was a breach of one of the installments, that doesn't breach the entire contract; only that installment.  So, the contract remains in effect with regard to future installments.

Another issue to raise is that you said the contract allows termination for any reason, but no reason was stated.  This would also constitute a breach of contract.

You are the plaintiff.  The management company is the defendant.  A lawsuit can be filed in the state where the plaintiff resides or in the state where the defendant resides or in the state where the claim arose.  You can file the lawsuit in your state and for convenience purposes such as filing documents with the court and court appearances, it would be advisable to file the lawsuit in your state.  You will need to have a process server serve the defendant with the summons and complaint (the complaint is the lawsuit attached to the summons).  To reduce expenses, you should select a process server in or near the city where the defendant is located to serve the defendant with the summons and complaint.  You can find process servers listed under attorney services in the Yellow Pages or online.


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