Business Bankruptcy Law | Small Business Bankruptcy Laws

Today, Bank of America announced it’s plan to buy Countrywide Financial, who is allegedly right on the brink of Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. Why does one company buy another company that is bleeding green? Why do you want a company that a bank won’t touch with a ten foot pole? My employer (a small business) is in a very tight squeeze, yet I don’t see any other companies rushing to come buy us up. What gives? The last thing we seem to be able to do is find more investors.

The articles say that Countrywide is rescued, but I don’t understand how. If I ever buy a company, it won’t be to blow a wad of cash and then turn around to pay off all of their old debts.

Can somebody tell me why a company teetering on disaster is a good buy, and also how this acquisition helps?

My mom is lazy. She has a part time job but it is for up to 3 hours a week. Whenever I want to do something she tells me to either do something for her or go do my summer projects for school or go to bed. All she does all day is watch TV or does her favorite hobby, jewelry making/beading. My dad works very hard everyday and when he comes home he is tired but my mom doesn’t always make him dinner. My sister is in a wheelchair and has to be feed by us, but while my mom is watching TV or beading she will tell me to feed her (which can take 30+ minutes). My dad owns a small business and the recession has hit us hard so he hasn’t take home pay since February of LAST year, but my mom is eating up our savings by buying beads (sometimes 0+ a month). My dad has tried to close one of his business that is not making any money, but the corporation it was licensed by will charge him ,000 if he doesn’t have 3 of them branches open. He used to have 5 of these businesses and also a joint owned one with his ex-wife, and also one other business. With my mom spending all of this money I am concerned that we might have to file for bankruptcy and leave over 100 people jobless. We also provide housing to 1 of our employees but if the businesses goes under he will be homeless. My mom also doesn’t clean up around the house so it is in a huge mess and it also has tons of junk in it (my room is waist deep in my mom’s stuff, except for a small path; I am not supposed to mess with any of it). The next problem is that my mom screams a lot, esp. if I don’t want to do something she asks. Another thing is I get good grades and work very hard in school (all A’s) but she yells at me if my grade starts to go down. My dad has privately told me that he has thought about getting a divorce if she doesn’t start doing stuff around the house. Another thing is that my mom said something to my aunt (who is bipolar) that has put up an 0,000 lawsuit against us over inheritance and I haven’t seen my cousin or uncle in a year. My grandmother is 88 and has gone delusional and the rest of my grandparents are dead. Do any of you have a solution to any of these problems?

I own a small business and am not making financial ends meet. I am NOT in debt to any one, however i can not make my monthly lease payments, and don’t know what to do besides file for personal bankruptcy. What can i do to resolve this situation?
I have only been in this place with my new business for 3 months. I am not in debt to anyone i just cant pay my lease due to no financial income. This is my full time job and unfortunately i am not making it financially to pay the rent. What do i do at this time in the situation to help myself terminate the lease due to inability to pay the rent.

I am a creditor in a bankruptcy case. I believe the debtor is trying to dismiss the bankruptcy or to convert it to Ch. 7 from Ch. 11. She lives in a million dollar home, and owns millions in properties. She owes my small business ,650. We make less than ,000/yr and if I were to find an attorney to take the case without me being able to pay first, they would end up with the whole amount that we are owed. My husband put up soffit on a million dollar house, and paid the materials and the labor. This is the balance owed to him. I am required to respond to this, but I don’t know how to. I do not want her to get away with this, because she is greedy, abusive, and lousy. Should I respond that I want a means test performed? I really need some help here. This is in Mississippi, if that helps.

corporation and then do the same thing all over again?

I knew a wealthy family growing up. The father bought the son a small business, and he incorporated it.

He then bought nice cars and other luxuries with the corporations credit. He filed bankruptcy on his corporation bought the stuff from his corporation for a very low cost, and then started a new corporation so he could do the same thing all over again.

Isn’t corporate America a wonderful thing.

I had a small business in Calera, Alabama, that went bust couple of years ago. Now, I need bankruptcy records from that time, and I don’t know where to get them easily, without wasting too much time myself. Any ideas?

Saved us from WHAT?

1) He inherited a 7.1% unemployment rate….it’s now .9.7%
2) He’s lost 4.5 Million jobs
3) We have lost 15,650 small Business’s since he took over
4) 4.7 Million Bankruptcies under his "recovery" ideas
5) 6.6 Million homes repoed under his leadership

Some 35 Golf Games Later (a record) we are still sinking and he claims we are moving into good times……….WITH a Democratic House & Senate (SINCE DEC 2006)

I know his wall-street buddies are making out pretty good but for the rest of us…it sucks!

WTF, this guy is a HUGE loser………..how can these people say we are recovering?????????

I’m part owner of a small business and we recently incorporated. A year ago I filed for personal bankruptcy had nothing to do with any business matters. We are currently looking to get some extra cash to cover the increase in orders that we’re receiving.

Hello, I hope someone can help me out in this serious problem in my life.
I am 32 yrs old and have been jobless for the past 2 years and have been hunting for a job in vain since. I have approximately ,000 in unsecured debt (credit cards basically). I also have a Honda Accord for which I had been getting help from my mother to make payments for. The payoff amount for the car is ,500. My mother recently lost her small business and can no longer bail me out for any of my cards or car.

I am in a serious depression because I am eyeballs deep in debt with no income or any job potential. I am not a lazy and careless person. I had stopped using any of my credit cards long ago since I had no income coming in. The amount keeps getting higher because of the high interest rates.

Can I possibly file for bankruptcy? What are the repercussions? What can I expect from there on? How soon can I start building my credit again after I hopefully get a job? Is bankruptcy a good decision or are there any other options for me? Will I still have to pay the credit card companies?

Please, please help me out with any good and useful information you have. Thank you so much,

I work for a small business. Recently my check bounced and now I can’t get it cashed anywhere because the account has been flagged. The owner is really upset and confided that she was considering Chapter 13 and closing a few stores to help save the others. I am torn between staying to help save this store or finding another job. I am the leader of this store so my leaving could put the nail in the coffin but my staying could cause me financial woes. I need advice.

I was approved for ssi early 2009, I only received 1 back support lump chk but not ongoing as my husband got a promotion that put us over monthly allowed income. Do I have to claim this as income or anywhere on the tax form? I usually do short forms since becoming disabled. I used to itemize with small business before but not sure what I should bother with now. I also had my student loan forgiven discharged, do I count that loan amount as some type of ‘benefit’ or income similar to when people file bankruptcy counts that discharge taxable? I read that someplace about bankruptcy, no that doesn’t apply here. Just the ssi’ benefit & student loan discharge. Or do they even need mentioned in short form.? Thank you.

The President seems focused on saddling small business with new taxes such as Cap & Trade Tax, a health care take-over that will cause massive bankruptcies and major down-turn in industry.

I am persoanlly NOT taking any salary until 2012. I will live on savings until this crisis is over. I refuse to give the Obama regime any cash and starve them out….I’m doing my part!

What are you doing to fight?

(notice to any obama/believers/dreamers) Yes, we know it’s Bush’s fault, obama never lie’s, obama knows what’s he doing..blah, blah, blah!
My question is for thinking people older than my dog!

if a sole proprietor small business goes bankrupt (owner and Business) are wages owed included in the bankruptcy?

Across America and the world workers, employees, and laborers work to create enormous sums of profits for corporations.

For example, AT&T made 12.9 billion in profits in 2008. They employ 300,000 people. Those employees worked very hard to make that 12.9 billion in profit. Shouldn’t they share in some of the benefits of those profits? If the Board of Directors for AT&T gave half, ONLY HALF, of the profits to the workers who created that profit, each employee would get around 20,000 dollars at the end of the year, and since wages have already been calculated into profit, their wages would not need to be decreased!

Isn’t it ethical for the people who work very hard to share in the profits they create for a company?
Isn’t it moral for the people to share in the wealth that they make for the owners?

Wouldn’t that extra money help people get out of foreclosures, bankruptcy, or at least improve the quality of life? Wouldn’t the sharing of profits improve consumer confidence and increase spending, which would in turn increase employment and improve small business?

I had a small business and in 2005 it failed and i had to go bankrupt on it and my home..everything , i lost it all.. I have since gotten back on my feet (i thought) ..got a good job with the state and even bought a new car since i had to drive so much for my job…Aug 1st of this year the governor cut the budget to my program and i lost my job. now I can’t make it…there are no jobs around here, there’s nothing…when is the earliest I can file for some sort of bankruptcy? I took the total wipe out the last time..this time I’m hoping I can do the one where I can restructure and keep my home, car and possessions. The economy is killing people like me. Please I hope someone out there knows if I can file for restructure sooner than 7 years and keep what I finally got built back up. Thank you
i wanted to add that i am NOT an idiot and really hate to be talked to like i am one. I am getting unemployment for now. I live in a very small town in Southern Ill and there are NO jobs…thanks to our goverment all our jobs are going to china or somewhere bedsides here. I ask my question to get a helpful answer NOT to get told I am lazy and need to find work…hate to wish bad on anyone but I just hope those of you who think I am so lazy goes thru this someday themselves..maybe then you will all be more understanding. I didn’t need made fun of ..i just ask for help in finding the right answer…thanks for nothing.
i really think THIS is partly whats wrong with the country anymore…people are heartless..always ready to put someone farther down than they already are…again thanks for nothing.
You know I am rather sorry I asked a question….I am NOT a deadbeat, I am an AMERICAN…if the economy has not hit you yet then I am happy for you…but in small town America it has it hard…I have worked all My life and will continue to work IF i can find a job.. unlike most of you I guess I just can’t afford to pull up stakes and move to ‘where the jobs are’…btw…according to the news they’d like to know where the jobs are too… I am totally ashamed to even read these answers…I hope each and every one of you who have told me ‘to get a job ‘ and not have a new car..or buy a ‘cheap ‘ house….well my answer to that is ..I bought a house..for ,000…cheap enough??? and i bought a chevy colbalt..cheap enough??? so you big knowlegable people get off your pedistal before you FALL off…your not better than me or any other American who is having problems now…I am a 56 year old woman and i live VERY modest life….so dont JUDGE me …all I wanted was some info on what choices.

Bush is asking for 0 billion to save the banks. I had An Idea and want to know why it wouldn’t work. AS of June 2008 total US mortgage debt is approx trillion., Of that approximately 10% are considered in distress or in bankruptcy. NOw if the government is going to "borrow" 0 billion and give it to the banks why not just have the banks forgive the 0 billion in distressed loans. Its the same amount of money and instead of helping the rich get richer the government could actually help the lower and middle class. there could be some very simple stipulations no refinancing on equity for 5 years, if you sell the house you keep 20% to put a down payment on your next property the rest goes back to the government, it has to be your primary residence. Imagine what that would do for the economy. I own a small Business and I don’t NEED help, but if I had my 00/month back from my mortgage first I could hire someone to work at my store, Create jobs, second I could invest more in my retirement, and of course more people would spend more. I could afford to buy a new hybrid fuel efficient car. think about it tell me what I missing.

Kitty I agree with you completely as I myself am doing OK, but at the same time as a small biusiness owner I feel the tightening of the collective beelts of my customer base. I just get sick an tired of seeing this kind of movement of weath among the to % of the population. I can’t help but think that if they are going to do it anyways do it in a way that helps everybody.

My husband has excellent credit score (816) and has never file bankruptcy, never had debt nor has made late payments on any of our bills. He’s been self-employed for 13 longs years. We have a good ,000+ in liquid assets (savings, checking, mutual funds, stocks, etc…). We applied for a loan last week because we’ve been preparing for this moment for a loooong time, and we have finally decided to take the plunge to buy our very first home (a townhouse in Maryland). Basing on the current interest rates and the amount of the house we’re planning on purchasing, our would-be monthly mortgage would even be less than what we’re paying for now on rent (which we have never been late on either). This morning, we received a very disappointing news from the lender saying that we do not qualify for the loan. We’ve been more responsible than the majority of the population who are buying a house now. Just because my husband has a Form 1044 instead of W-2, he was denied. All of the assets and excellent credit standing have been set aside. Is it fair?–NO!!

So, we’re now beginning to wonder how we could ever qualify for a loan? My husband is not willing to give up his own small business and change his lifestyle to be able to get a W-2 and own a home. But it’s very discouraging. Can someone shed us some light on this? Is there a particular lender that’s liscenced in the state of Maryland to work with Self-Employed borrowers?
Being self-employed means you can write off a lot of your properties that you use towards your business. Obviously, the deductions make him look like he’s not earning enough even if we still have enough left after all our monthly bills and rent. We were told that it depends on the lender who’s willing to give work with self-employed borrowers.

Bush is asking for 0 billion to save the banks. I had An Idea and want to know why it wouldn’t work. AS of June 2008 total US mortgage debt is approx trillion., Of that approximately 10% are considered in distress or in bankruptcy. NOw if the government is going to "borrow" 0 billion and give it to the banks why not just have the banks forgive the 0 billion in distressed loans. Its the same amount of money and instead of helping the rich get richer the government could actually help the lower and middle class. there could be some very simple stipulations no refinancing on equity for 5 years, if you sell the house you keep 20% to put a down payment on your next property the rest goes back to the government, it has to be your primary residence. Imagine what that would do for the economy. I own a small Business and I don’t NEED help, but if I had my 00/month back from my mortgage first I could hire someone to work at my store, Create jobs, second I could invest more in my retirement, and of course more people would spend more. I could afford to buy a new hybrid fuel efficient car. think about it tell me what I missing.
I think I agree with what both of you are saying but I can’t help but think that the economy would boom if something like this were to happen. I can’t help but think that a lot of the "forgiven debt" would end up backa t the banks in the form of retirement investing, capital improvement, raised local taxes, infrustructure improvements, retail sales taxes and spending thus the banks would actually get more money back than if we didn’t bail them out. I especially agree with the inflation problem that this ois going to cause.

My previous employer has withheld 350 dollars, all of which I have significant proof he owes me, with his handwriting.

He took out taxes on me, of which I have proof, but he never gave any employees a W2 so we couldn’t file taxes. He took taxes out on us, and didn’t pay the IRS, so he scammed them. He didn’t even have some employees soc numbers right.

Anyhow, after trying to get my money for EIGHT MONTHS, we are meeting up, where he has agreed to FINALLY pay me 200 dollars, but if I do not accept it, he will refuse to pay me and file bankruptcy (which he plans to do) so I get nothing. He is paying another employee all 550 of which he owes her, and it doesn’t seem like I should sign off ALL liability for half of what he owes me. It’s just a very bad situation, but he owes about 5 employees (it was a small business). All want to fight this.

Am I able to recover the full 0?

My most important question here is will I be able to get the money without signing the form?

I work for a small business. We found out that we might be going out of business if they didn’t find another buyer by the end of the month; but otherwise the owner will be filing bankruptcy. I don’t know the details, but apparently the bank "got wind" that they might be filing for it and froze their account. I’m in the state of IL for what it’s worth- we heard that once an account is ‘frozen’ it can’t be "un"frozen. We were supposed to be paid by 5pm Monday; and have not yet been paid today either. Without account access nobody can get their checks/money.
I *need* my paycheck.. how to employees in this situation get paid? I me, legally we HAVE to be paid. And there are still people working now.
not sure who/what to call or talk to about this or what has to happen. Won’t get further details until I work again which isn’t until Friday.