i'm not concerned about being protected from criminal liability or anythign like that
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i'm not concerned about being protected from criminal liability or anythign like that
our business is this: we put up fliers, people call us to sell their stuff, we take possession of it, list it, sell it, and give them their share.
however, we were recdently called about selling a porsche. i mean that one doesn't seem like it will go through because i don't like his terms (he wants a certain value for it, and it's too borderline whether we'll be able to get that or not, but if we do we get everything over it. i don't think it's worth the time / money to deal with it when he wants so close to market anyways).
i guess if i took possession of a 10K plasma tv that seemed to work fine, and during the week or so in my possession before sale, i plugged it in and it turned out to be a defective unit, and they were trying to unload it on me, i'd be personally liable.
it's my understanding that if i had an llc, i wouldn't be liable for that tv, but hte llc would. and they wouldn't be able to sue me personally, just my company, which would probably just die (bankruptcy?)
am i thinking along the right lines? i'm so new to this. i'm like amateur entrepreneur here, this is the third business i started while in college, but the first that's actually seeming good enough to keep open (well... personal training would have kept going except i was working on teh angle of beating local gyms' prices, and all of a sudden i got promoted to management at my 'real' job, and i was making more an hour there than i would have training people, so that was a no brainer, considering i can work 10 hrs straight at my job, but def couldn't train 10 1hr sessions in a row
Incorporating doesn't shield you from potentially being sued for your own negligence. So you take a TV, it works when you receive it (presumably you would test it before taking possession) but stops working while it is in your possession. The owner sues the business, but also sues you individually for supposedly accidentally knocking the TV over or otherwise causing it to become damaged through your negligence. Being incorporated doesn't help you get out of that suit. Being insured should mean that the insurance company would pay off the person's claim or defend you in court.
i knew incorporating shielded me from personal liability, but not criminal stuff, but if it doesn't cover that, what exactly are the major things in my situation that it woudl cover? (thanks again for being helpful aaron, you're input's helping a lot). i'm not saying i think it woudl cover me if i got the tv, and as soon as i put it in my apartment i took a bat to it. but if i got it home, there were no clear signs of my negligence, and it just wasn't working anymore. maybe they thought they'd trick me (i mean i could probably do that to someone with my ps2, the things works when it wants, if i unloaded it they'd no doubt find out it was broken after playing with it a little).Quote:
Quoting aaron
also, if i sell that tv, that was working well, online, and then the buyer says it was a broken one, they want their money back, which means i would pay them back the money they gave me, and give hte broken tv back to the original owner, who woudl of course sue me (or my company? so confused) for the tv
maybe i just don't get what kind of thigns the corporate shield *does* protect. i knew it didn't cover criminal stuff, but if i took a tv that turned out to be defective, i didn't think that was criminal (unless obvious negligence maybe, like if i had dropped the thing)
The corporate shield relates to your not being held liable for the misconduct of the corporation. But particularly in a one- or two-man show, that doesn't necessarily mean you can't be held liable in your individual capacity for your personal acts and omissions. To bring a suit against you as an individual, the person can allege that you were personally negligent. They have the burden of proving that in court, and may well lose, but you still have to defend yourself. (And that, should you obtain insurance, is where the insurance comes in handy.)
i think i get what you're saying, could you elaborate with some scenarios specific to my situation? i guess i'm cloudy as to what determines whether or not it is the corporation's conduct or my personal conduct. is it basically up in the air? i don't see what falls on what side i guessQuote:
Quoting aaron