@Tim Johnson to put it lightly without disclosing to much info. I am new to this industry so naive in some things but learning. My partner and I are asked to come into a back office for a meeting to discuss the financials of this business we were looking into. They said okay we will show you the invoices. Now what I didnt know is that there are a lot of businesses in Portland that only claim so much on taxes but write off a lot as loss so that they get considerable write offs and returns.
So when I asked if we could discuss the tax info the broker and owner left the room immediately to talk privately. My thought was we didnt want to purchase a store with a lot of back debt and the bank wouldn't approve a loan without that info. When they come back they shut the office door this time took a more serious posture and asked us if we were tax guys. I started to wonder if they were going to attempt to stop us from leaving the meeting but managed to defuse the situation with a bit of wit. We left with out an altercation but it was apparent the broker was trying to cover the owners tracks.