domain name purchase

[cjmacd]

I have a little situation, and I’m not sure my best course of action.

I recently negotiated to buy a decent domain name from another party who is located in the US.

We agreed on a price and a transaction was initiated using escrow.com

Agreeing to our terms and "signing" the contracts per say, the transaction went to the next step.

I made payment for the domain in full to escrow, payment was approved and the only thing left was for the owner to transfer the domain.

The problem is, the seller refuses to transfer the domain name because after we initiated the escrow and after I paid for the domain name, he received an offer that was substantially higher then mine. He told me would not sell the domain name to me, unless I paid him more money. I was floored that someone would actually try this. Especially someone who is a part of the domain community.

It is my understanding that using escrow.com is the same as a contract between two parties and if the other breaches that contract they can be held liable.

It is also my understanding that the domain name was legally mine as soon as payment was made. After all, the terms were agreed upon by both parties before the payment step.

Am I wrong in this perception?

What recourses do I have?
I don't want to just give up the transaction and be required to pay the escrow fee because the other party simply won't live up to their end of the agreement.

Also how far would one have to go to fight such a case? Has anyone been in this situation before? Would a carefully worded letter from a reputable lawyer do the trick? Or is my only recourse to take him to court?

The domain name is a moderately expensive one but I'm not sure how economically efficient it is to fight for a domain valued in the low to mid xxxx.

I’m quite peeved over this so any help would be very appreciated

-Chris

[Rocket2Uranus]

Have you asked Escrow.com this question?

[Domagon]

I'm not an attorney, so not fully sure what viable legal options you have ...

With that said, in regards to damages, you likely would only have a good shot for recovering the escrow fee and perhaps a few exra dollars for your time, phone calls, postage, etc.

If you really want the domain, which it sounds as if you do, then you likely would first want to file suit and get a court injuction to prevent the domain name from being transferred/used by any other party; "locked". And then fight it out in court to get ownership transferred over into your name.

After filing suit, with an experienced attorney assisting, you may be able to convince the other party to transfer ownership over to you, after which point you then drop the legal action; don't get greedy ... just try to get the domain name, which is your primary objective, and eat the legal costs - chalk it up as experience and move on.

Ron

Addendum: while a seller can lower or even raise a price during the negotiation phase, once money has exchanged hands, they are, for all practical purposes, obligated to follow through ...

My point is, if this person is a well known domain name trader, they're done if the word gets out to other domain name traders that they ripped someone off like that. Reputation means a lot in this business.

Just direct the seller to this thread - they may very likely rethink their decision.

And/or out the seller/domain name here ... once the word is out that their domain name is damaged goods, there's a good chance the other buyer will avoid the domain - if they're smart, for you could take legal action against that buyer - you may not get anywhere with that, but remember, reputation means a lot in this business.

Good luck and keep us here updated

Ron

[Dave Zan]

I was actually going to ask that question because a newbie in another forum
asked that as well. But I doubt he knows the implications of such a thing and
what to do if it happens.

AFAIK, you might have only legal recourse. But I'm hoping John/jberryhill or
any other attorney here could help shed light on this subject.

There was a thread on this subject, though your question this time is the
"reverse" of it.

[jberryhill]

from another party who is located in the US

Just out of curiousity, do you know this person's actual name and location?

you likely would only have a good shot for recovering the escrow fee

Actually, a pretty common measure of damages in breach of contract cases where a seller reneged for a higher price is the extra money the seller obtained by breaching the sales contract.

It is also my understanding that the domain name was legally mine as soon as payment was made.

No. It is yours when it is registered to you.

Also how far would one have to go to fight such a case?

As far as the other side wants to go. The answer is the same for the other side as well.

Would a carefully worded letter from a reputable lawyer do the trick?

Well, you could write and ask him, "If had a reputable lawyer send you a carefully worded letter, would you give me the domain name?" Other than that, one supposes you'd have to try it in order to find out.

[cjmacd]

Just out of curiousity, do you know this person's actual name and location?

yes I do know his name and location, I just didn't want to "out" a person until they have had a chance to do the right thing.

I don't like talking bad about people, but as a last ditch effort it could warn others of his business practices.

I'll keep his name private for now.

Actually, a pretty common measure of damages in breach of contract cases where a seller reneged for a higher price is the extra money the seller obtained by breaching the sales contract.

wow, I didn't know that

- Thanks for answering some of those questions John you too Ron

I'll keep you guys updated

[HOWARD]

If you had a transfer agreement drawn by an attorney where the attorney would hold the funds in escrow and transfer them upon transfer of the domain, you would have a binding written contract that can be enforced in the courts of YOUR jurisdiction, making it easier for you to take him to court for breach of contract.