So I'll try to keep this short as I know Arfcom's attention span

I buy and sell items online, basically arbitrage.  Mainly LEGO's as some people here know and some other misc. collector items.  I joined with a company back east a few years ago to help build my business as they were established on Amazon and Walmart.com where I couldn't get set up.  Basically I sent them inventory or they would a few times a year go around with trucks and pick up inventory from vendors and they sold it with their flat mark-up.  It is a well established company so I wasn't too worried about being scammed.  Communication always great and talked regularly to the owner.

I am very anal with inventory and tracking and noticed issues the fist year with their reports so asked for a inventory audit.  They were responsive and after a month or so got it straightened out and found I was shorted almost $5k in sales.  Mistakes get made and I wasn't worried.

I teamed up with them on a low rate business loan to procure more inventory and help pay off debts I had built procuring initial inventory.  Payments come out of my by-weekly payouts.

Fast forward to the end of 2022, beginning of 2023.  I ask for another audit as I have a whole list of inventory issues.  Audit drags out, everytime it's an "almost done"  "couple more weeks" "ran into so and so issue" etc.  Part was through the year I have to start messaging them regularly as I am not getting paid out as well.  At this point communication is almost impossible.  Never answers the phone and it takes maybe 10-15 texts/emails to get a response.  It's now 2024, still no audit, haven't been paid in almost 3 months and I get an email finally saying that the lender is worried I don't have enough inventory to pay them off so they've just been holding my payouts!  Mind you this is the first I've heard of this.  I have well over $100k in inventory there and sitting at just over $20k on the loan.

At this point I'm livid and tell them we need to part ways, I want them to make it a priority to sell off my inventory, pay off loan and credit me the rest.  First I want my audit done to see exactly where we sit.  They agree initially but now I can't get any replies  nor updates again.  

I'm at a loss as to my next step.  Flying or driving across the country really isn't an option at this point.  I don't have a lot of free capital for a lawyer and wouldn't know were to start.  Is this something that the State Attorney General would look at?  I've never been in any sort of legal situation in my life, let alone like this.  Any input would be great.

Yes, get thee to a local trial lawyer's office asap. You are almost certainly going to need to file a lawsuit to get appropriate action although there will be a demand letter from your lawyer first. If they have taken liberties around loan terms or payments, you may have additional legal leverage here, but you'll work through that with your attorney.

Good luck to you sir.

I'm in Idaho, they are in North Carolina.  I'm guessing a lawyer there is who I'd need to contact right?  

I know I've seen other instances where AG's will put some pressure on businesses that have some shady practices.  That's why I was wondering if that was a good first step or if I'd be wasting my time.

I wouldn't think the AG would get involved, but you can try.

Where you can file the lawsuit depends on the claims available and in the case of your contracts with them, the venue provision in those agreements. If you have the flexibility to sue in your state, you and your lawyer can talk about the pros and cons. You might want to start with a NC attorney though.