Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Virginia

Re: Is Legally Binding

It does not matter whether you are in Florida and the buyer in Virginia (except in terms of which State you may need to sue in). What is important is whether the on-line actions on the Internet on E-bay count as a "signature" that is legally binding.

That question -- the validity of an electronic signature -- may be different between Florida law and Virginia law.

However, in general, it is likely to be a valid contract in either State these days. So you can sue for any money you actually lose.

Now, I am a Virginia lawyer, so I can only answer about Virginia law. However, to enforce a penalty like this it must be viewed as a "liquidated damages" clause, which must follow very careful rules. It is possible, but unlikely, that a Virginia court would uphold the $500 penalty -- NOT because it is on the Internet but because Virginia would only allow a contract penalty in very narrow circumstances, even in a good old-fashioned paper contract.

On the other hand, if you actually lose ANY money at all from the broken contract, you can collect your losses. For example, if you sold the car to the defaulting buyer for $13,500, and the best price you can get after that is only $12,000 to someone else, then you have clearly lost $1,500 relative to the contract. The crucial thing is that a Virginia court would require you to PROVE that you actually lost some money, incurred some extra expenses, etc.

Re: Is Legally Binding

My response would follow similar to the Virginia attorney. The outcome would be dependent on the circumstances of your case and the history of case law where you sue. My services are available if you decide to sue in Florida.