contract-law florida ohio civil-legal-system
If a business is sold, does that mean the owner(s) get off scot-free?
<p>Definition of scot-free
: completely free from obligation, harm, or penalty.</p>
<p>When we informed our customer that we were selling below cost, the reply we received was a suspension of communications. Then, in response to our inquiries, we were told that the business was sold to a woman (who had previously been a stockroom worker).</p>
<p>The &quot;new owner&quot; (if that is what she really is) claims she does not have any knowledge or business records prior to 2018. Is there a way to find out for sure if the business was really transferred?</p>
<p>Can the former owners simply walk-away with valuable sets of original-models we created at their request and put in their hands? Can they legally walk away with unresolved open invoices? Is there a legal recourse for such cases?</p>

<p>In business dealings, you would have a contract with a company, not with its owner.</p>
<p>The new owner inherits both the assets and liabilities of the company.  It's up to the buyer of the business to do due diligence before buying the company.  The old owner may escape obligations to clients and suppliers once the sale of the business is complete, but the new owner could sue the old owner for fraud.</p>
<p>(It may be possible to escape some liabilities by declaring bankruptcy, but that's not the situation you described.  One unethical accounting trick that a company can use is to split the company into two corporations such that one branch inherits the liabilities, and it go defunct.)</p>
