I dont know for sure, but there probably is some type of recourse. But the time that would elapse until you start suing people is plenty of time for a short sel

I dont know for sure, but there probably is some type of recourse. But the time that would elapse until you start suing people is plenty of time for a short seller to make his money and give you your shares. If the short seller is blown up or cornered, in other words if the price of the shares has climbed so much that the short seller will lose money, then you might be trying to sue somebody who is already in bankruptcy. So that is another problem of shortselling: it affects not only the companies but buyers as well, because buyers may end up holding stock that does not actually exist.