Ebay is transferring my account to someone else against my will, advice on suing Ebay

[miketwitter]

Hi, I had a business in NY state and moved to another state, got new business on the basis that I am a top rated seller at Ebay motors and can sell vehicles on existing built up reputation on ebay account but the new owner of my old business put up a request to ebay to let him have the account and ebay is trying to give it to them. I had ebay account since 2005 and had power seller status before start using it to advertise for the last business that I had only for the last year and a half. its frustrating and agonizing, its like going to school to earn a degree over the course of five years investment and someone comes and gets a job by masking your reputation. I have been in touch with few attorneys and will be interested in consulting with more who have experience in suing ebay. My case is simple, account is registered to my name since five years and now all of a sudden it is going to be given to someone else against my will. Any help would be appreciated.

[John14789]

Did you sell your old business?

[miketwitter]

I did not sell the old business rahter transfered the old corporation to someone.

[John14789]

So you just trasnferred the name of the corporation to someone else? When you trasnferred the name of the corporation did you entitle the new owner to any assets of the corporation? Did you do the trasnfer via an accountant or yourself?

[miketwitter]

Yes I transferred the corporation. NO i did not entitle the new owner any assetts or any business related accounts. The specific wording in the transfer paper states that I transfer my non "par value stock" to him. I did it through my tax firm.

[John14789]

Then hire a lawyer and take it to court as the buyer of your corporation is conning you.

[miketwitter]

Yes this is exactly what I am planning to do, take ebay to court, still ebay has not kicked me off of my account, they are saying that they have decided against me but they are waiting for an advice from their legal conseling(apparently I told them, I will be suing ebay) if they kick me out of my account and assign it to someone else. I have couple of attorneys but they have not sued ebay ever before. I need someone who has experienced in suing ebay for financial and emotional damages or it does not matter if they have done this before or not, also I have never gone to court or lawyers before, so need advice. Please let me know.

[John14789]

Well if the account is handed over to the other person then go to a couple different lawyers and tell them about the case. See which one sounds most knowledable about the subject and give him/her the case. Make sure to get a lawyer who'll charge you after winning the case. Also make sure to discuss his cut. It's usually 30-40% of the winnings.

Here are the usual steps of a lawsuit: Typical steps in a lawsuit

If ebay knows of it's mistake and goes through it then your attorney might even do a "Under the Table" deal with ebay and collect the sums and not even go to court. Your attorney will advice you of this when you get there.

[miketwitter]

Thanks for the advice. I have contacted few lawyers but still waiting from ebay. Somehow ebay has not kicked me off the account and has not handed it over the new owner what they told me they were going to do a week ago. Currently I am being told that they are still considering further into it and waiting from their legal cousel. They had clearly told me that decision has been made and you will be taken off of the account, this delay has occured after I disclosed my intent to sue them if they transfer my account against my will. Lets see how it goes but it really hurts to imagine that ebay could do it to someone.

[John14789]

If they know you'll sue their lawyers will probably advise them to not transfer the account. If they haven't done so now then they most likely won't do it. But just in case keep a lawyer on hand.

[miketwitter]

I have talked to two different lawyers who are willing to take this case, both are experienced and reputable lawyers but they have not sued ebay ever before( don't know if it matters?). Now somehow ebay keeps telling me they are still considering it and everytime I contact them, they say it will be decided today or tomorrow but its been over a week. I will sit tight and wait.

[miketwitter]

I got a phone call from the ebay rep lady today and she told me that they are going to transfer it today to the other person. I asked her to send me a written email notification, she hesitated and said she has been advised not to do so. I don't understand, why? I have just got done sending her an email requesting it in writing. It sounds wiered to me. I am looking forward to take it to court, any other suggestions. Thank you

[Modee]

Yes I transferred the corporation. NO i did not entitle the new owner any assetts or any business related accounts. The specific wording in the transfer paper states that I transfer my non "par value stock" to him. I did it through my tax firm.

Doesn't make a lot of sense - you sold a shell corporation with no assets? Normally when a corporation is "sold" what is sold are the outstanding shares, or a portion of the shares in the case of a partial sale. if you sold all the shares of the corporation, absent some other agreement, the corporation's assets transfer with the sale.

I have seen agreements where the buyer specifically warrants that it is not accepting any non-disclosed or preexisting debt of the corporation, but such agreements do not always hold up. I have never seen a situation where a corporation is sold without its assets, because a corporation consists of its assets.

What you should have done if all you wanted to sell was the "shell" is FIRST transferred/sold all assets of the corporation to another entity (you), and then sold the corporation, and specifically mentioned (1) that the Ebay account was included in the transfer to you, and if necessary, (2) not included in the sale to the third party buyer. In such a case, you should/would have provided this third party buyer with a specific disclosure that the corporation's assets had been already transferred/sold out, or provided a list of assets for the corporation which would have shown no assets.

Otherwise, there is no record of the "retention" of the corporation's assets (by you - which means, actually, that they were transferred to you). How can you still own the corporation's assets unless you retained some of its stock? And if you retained some of its stock, you still have an ownership interest in the corporation. The corporation's assets do not simply transfer to you just because you think you sold it without assets - there must be some record of their transfer to you, which would include a tax situation that would arise, or some record of your continued ownership in the corporation's stock and assets.

Still, all this is probably over Ebay's head - all they see/know is that you had a corporation in whose name the Ebay account was created, that has now been sold/transferred to someone else. That's enough for them.

To sort all this out, you need tech support as an initial matter, and legal representation in your state. As far as Ebay is concerned, you no longer have any title to that Ebay account. Not saying it is right, but just how they view it.

You were imprecise in what you did, but perhaps you did it like that for a reason - maybe if you had made it clear that you were selling the corporation with no assets (and that assets were retained somehow, or already transferred to you) the buyer wouldn't have bought it, or wouldn't have paid as much.

if you see this thread again, please login and let us know what happened. I predict problems for you because of what I outline above, but maybe you'll be able to come to some settlement with the buyer. At best, you were imprecise in what you did, but the court may view this as your having tried to defraud the third party buyer somehow by not being clear in what you were selling (and not selling). Sometimes, at least at the trial court level, judges don't like clever legal arguments and such - they get right to the heart of the matter, which in this case is, did this buyer know he was getting just the shell and no assets, and if not, is it the seller's fault that he didn't know.