What happens if I accidentally send sensitive documents to the wrong buyer?

Act quickly: contact the recipient right away, request immediate deletion or return of the documents, and follow up in writing so there's a clear record of what you asked for and when. Whether this creates a legal problem for you depends heavily on what the documents contained — an accidental disclosure to someone with no confidentiality obligation to you can weaken your protection, particularly if the material included information you were separately obligated to keep confidential from someone else, such as another buyer's bid details, an employee's personal information, or a partner's proprietary data.

If the wrong recipient is another prospective buyer rather than a stranger, most will cooperate with a prompt, professional request, especially if you've also required them to sign an NDA covering information they receive in error — some agreements include language addressing exactly this scenario. Going forward, tighten your process: double-check recipients before sending sensitive material, and consider a controlled data room with individual access permissions instead of email attachments for the most sensitive documents. If the mistake involved highly sensitive material, a Treadstone business lawyer should be involved promptly to assess exposure and next steps.