legal Merlin Kauffman Files Suit Over 420.com

[koolishman]

“In January, Puerto Rico resident Merlin Kauffman sued High Times in federal court, alleging he had negotiated the purchase of the internet domain 420.com with Levin over WhatsApp. Kauffman wired the company more than $300,000, but the company has refused to turn over control of the domain, according to the complaint. High Times has denied wrongdoing, alleging that Kauffman wired the money before a final agreement had been reached and that it has offered to refund his payment. The case remains ongoing.”

https://domaininvesting.com/merlin-kauffman-files-suit-over-420-com/

 

[Mytz.com]

So he's stealing the domain name?

 

[Soofi]

“In January, Puerto Rico resident Merlin Kauffman sued High Times in federal court, alleging he had negotiated the purchase of the internet domain 420.com with Levin over WhatsApp. Kauffman wired the company more than $300,000, but the company has refused to turn over control of the domain, according to the complaint. High Times has denied wrongdoing, alleging that Kauffman wired the money before a final agreement had been reached and that it has offered to refund his payment. The case remains ongoing.”

https://domaininvesting.com/merlin-kauffman-files-suit-over-420-com/

Seems like the seller agreed upon a deal (per whatsapp chat) without mentioning anything about board approval in the initial discussions/negotiations and now trying to back out due to some other (higher) offers. Clear case of backing out!

 

[pb]

I guess it will depend on court interpretation of the provided chat logs, but he'll likely win - why would they provide him the bank account details if the agreement hadn't been reached?

 

[Jimmysun]

Ty.
If 420 is worth more than 300000 I wonder how much 42.com or 2.com could be...

 

[pb]

If 420 is worth more than 300000 I wonder how much 42.com or 2.com could be...

420 is not *just* NNN though.

 

[Jimmysun]

420 is not *just* NNN though.

Ha, I googled it found I missed it, it’s something alike your favicon.

 

[Soofi]

42 being NN, would be far more valuable than 420 IMSO, whereas 4 or 2 would be notch above

Ty.
If 420 is worth more than 300000 I wonder how much 42.com or 2.com could be...

 

[Kingslayer]

Business deals fall through all the time, for example I remember Manchester United agreeing a deal to sell David De Gea to Real Madrid, that fell through last second and for a silly reason, no one got sued there, both clubs moved on!

The UK signed a contract for Huawei to handle the countries 5g network, i believe work even started on it, the UK then pulled out of the contract and all Huawei's kit removed from the UK. As far as domains is concerned, until the domain is in your account it’s not yours, it’s as simple as that.

I’ve had it done to me, deals falling through in Escrow when you have spent huge amounts of time negotiating for it and I’m sure other people have here too, you are disappointed, but you take it on the chin and move on.

 

[Soofi]

Easier said than done.

Seller is in total breach of a verbal agreement if you have read the whatsapp chat's attached. Buyer decided not take it on the chin as 420.com is a valuable asset and hence the lawsuit

Business deals fall through all the time, for example I remember Manchester United agreeing a deal to sell David De Gea to Real Madrid, that fell through last second and for a silly reason, no one got sued there, both clubs moved on!

The UK signed a contract for Huawei to handle the countries 5g network, i believe work even started on it, the UK then pulled out of the contract and all Huawei's kit removed from the UK. As far as domains is concerned, until the domain is in your account it’s not yours, it’s as simple as that.

I’ve had it done to me, deals falling through in Escrow when you have spent huge amounts of time negotiating for it and I’m sure other people have here too, you are disappointed, but you take it on the chin and move on.

 

[koolishman]

As far as domains is concerned, until the domain is in your account it’s not yours, it’s as simple as that.

I don't think it is as simple as that.

Let us see what courts have to say.

 

[Kingslayer]

Easier said than done.

Seller is in total breach of a verbal agreement if you have read the whatsapp chat's attached. Buyer decided not take it on the chin as 420.com is a valuable asset and hence the lawsuit

No one got scammed though so I see no reason for lawsuit, company offered to give him his money back, looking at the dates when these messages were sent I’m sure he has got his money back, if he hasn’t ONLY THEN I can understand the lawsuit.

But as said, until the domain his in your account and under your name, it’s not yours, as far as I can see here (and even in your own words) just a verbal agreement happened in this case (no contract by law), examples I gave above paper work was actually signed in these deals and I can give many more examples because buyers/sellers changing minds is (unfortunately) what happens in business.

Unless the company is still holding his money I don’t see a case here just a case of the complainant throwing their toys out of his pram because they never got what they wanted.

 

[Soofi]

Let me fix and change my "verbal agreement" term to "written chat agreement" which I believe may hold up, you never know, as seller agreed to a price and shared his company bank account. It could also be seen as deceiving buyer as there was no mention of board approval earlier

I am no attorney so we will probably have to wait and watch how court plays..but point to note; domain sales platforms also share contact details of the party backing out of a deal so that interested party can pursue legal action if they deem fit. So there might be something for the buyer in it. As I said, we never know what's coming

No one got scammed though so I see no reason for lawsuit, company offered to give him his money back, looking at the dates when these messages were sent I’m sure he has got his money back, if he hasn’t ONLY THEN I can understand the lawsuit.

But as said, until the domain his in your account and under your name, it’s not yours, as far as I can see here (and even in your own words) just a verbal agreement happened in this case, no contract by law, examples I gave above paper work was actually signed in these deals and I can give money more examples like those because deals falling through because buyers/sellers changing minds is (unfortunately) what happens in business.

Unless the company is still holding his money I don’t see a case here just a case of the complainant throwing their toys out of his pram because they never got what they wanted.

 

[Kingslayer]

Let me fix and change my "verbal agreement" term to "written chat agreement" which I believe may hold up, you never know, as seller agreed to a price and shared his company bank account. It could also be seen as deceiving buyer as there was no mention of board approval earlier

I am no attorney so we will probably have to wait and watch how court plays..but point to note; domain sales platforms also share contact details of the party backing out of a deal so that interested party can pursue legal action if they deem fit. So there might be something for the buyer in it. As I said, we never know what's coming

Yeah let's see, but i will say a "written chat agreement" is no 'legally binding document'. So (as said) unless the company is still holding his money, i will be very surprised if the complainant wins this.

The point you gave about platforms, buyers/sellers agree to a marketplaces' terms when you sign up to one of these sites, so if was done that way, even though it would still be difficult to win, yes by law, there would have been a case then but this was (seemingly) a private deal.

 

[AJoshi]

“In January, Puerto Rico resident Merlin Kauffman sued High Times in federal court, alleging he had negotiated the purchase of the internet domain 420.com with Levin over WhatsApp. Kauffman wired the company more than $300,000, but the company has refused to turn over control of the domain, according to the complaint. High Times has denied wrongdoing, alleging that Kauffman wired the money before a final agreement had been reached and that it has offered to refund his payment. The case remains ongoing.”

Thanks for sharing!

 

[Mister Funsky]

Business deals fall through all the time

True that. I had an offer on a domain from that UK based airline for a name that I accepted as it was at near full retail. After a couple of emails exchanging niceties and my providing multiple payment options, they went ghost. Hopefully, now that they have gotten a 'bailout', they will come back to the table. BTW, I have increased the BIN by 10%.

 

[john_karr]

420day.com is available

 

[Keith]

420day.com is available

I own that. Why post it here? Also, I’d pay more than $300k for 420.com but that doesn’t mean the buyer doesn’t have a case. This will be interesting.

 

[Keith]

What service did they use to handle the transaction? It’s interesting that the buyer had the sellers wire info but they didn’t agree. Sellers remorse imo.

 

[Keith]

FYI, even at escrow.com you can make payment and the seller can reject within the inspection period.

 

[The Durfer]

he should get interest and distress pay from the $300k but if they dont want to sell the domain, i dont see why someone cant pull out of a deal. I would pay him $600k and keep it, imo. Its a huge marijuana term in the cannabis world. Should go for $1.65m easy.

 

[Alessandro Couteau]

Ty.
If 420 is worth more than 300000 I wonder how much 42.com or 2.com could be...

2.com is a single N.com ... there is no one with an N.com except for Verisign who is holding them (not for sale)

 

[Alessandro Couteau]

People talking here about how they would pay more then $300K even though the name has been for sale for a couple years now ... ridiculous

Justin whom owns Marijuana.com passed on the deal

 

[Keith]

People talking here about how they would pay more then $300K even though the name has been for sale for a couple years now ... ridiculous

Justin whom owns Marijuana.com passed on the deal

Where is it listed with a bin?

 

[blogspotter]

Ha, I googled it found I missed it, it’s something alike your favicon.

CHina is not the center of the world. Marijuana is