Is it legal for a liquor distribution company to not sell product to my liquor store, because the previous entity at the location owed money?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
Is it legal for a liquor distribution company to not sell product to my liquor store, because the previous entity at the location owed money?
I purchased a liquor license and store from bank foreclosure. The license and store was lien free and cleared for sale by court order. There is a liquor distribution company unwilling to sell to me because of $1300 debt from the previous entity at my location. The distribution company is the sole distributor of certain products and I am unable to purchase those products from anywhere else.
Asked on July 12, 2011 under Business Law, Florida
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 13 years ago | Contributor
Generally speaking, a company is free to sell--or not sell--to anyone it likes, for any reason; there is no law requiring a distributor, for example, to sell to every potential customer. While laws do prohibit certain types of discrimination by certain businesses (e.g. no racial discrimination in places of public accomodation), those exemptions would not apply here. It's not unreasonable for the distributor to not want to sell to you; they may suspect that you are the previous entity under a different name. You should try offering them some guaranty to make it worthwhile to sell to you; e.g. you could give them a deposit as security, offer to personally guaranty debts or obligations, etc.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.