AboutChristine Janklow Expertise As President of SettleSource,Inc. a business debt settlement firm, I invite you to inquire about all aspects of business debt solutions to best determine which may be most appropriate. If you have questions such as: What is debt settlement and how process provide debt relief to my business? What options are available to deal with my business debts? Is it possible for a business owner to negotiate their own settlements? Why is debt settlement preferable to filing a bankruptcy or debt consolidation? Why are creditors willing to provide settlements to a business? How will settling debts affect credit scores? or How to rebuild a business after debt is eliminated. Please ask it now! For more information regarding how debt settlement can help your business, please visit www.SettleSource.com and place your inquiry. Mention All Experts to have a confidential no cost consultation with Christine. If this is your business situation time may play a very important factor in getting matters resolved proactively before they have negative affects on the business.
Experience My expertise is specific to providing business solutions that will have profound positive impacts on the financial health of businesses. I have 25 years experience as an entrepreneur and have developed national sales programs; strategic alliances; product development; marketing programs; business and turnaround plans and debt settlement programs all providing methods to improve the financial outlook for large and small businesses.
Organizations Turnaround Management Association; Los Angeles area
Publications Los Angeles Daily News; Today Magazine Monthly series of business articles entitled "Brand News."
Education/Credentials Bachelor of Business Administration; Associate of Arts Merchandising
Past/Present Clients American Airlines, American Express, Safeway Inc., New York Life, consumer products manufacturers; retailers and service providers.
I sold my business last year and the new owner stopped paying on one of the credit lines (Advanta).It has since been turned over to a collection agency (Federated)and now they are coming after me for the debt ($16k). First this was a business credit line under the business name and it NEVER was on my personal credit report, ever. They contacted me a few months ago and said I "Jay Bernard" are responsible. So I sent them 2 letter via USPS Certified "return receipt requested" well over 2 months ago and and they still have not provided me with any proof that I own this debt. I am 100% sure they have nothing in writing that states I personally guaranteed this line. Isn't it illegal for them just to suddenly add this debt to my personal credit reporting with zero proof that I am responsible for it? All correspondence from them has been in my name only, no business mentioned so by law they had 30 days to respond. I have disputed this today with Equifax online.
Thank you for your time.
Answer Jay:
Thank you for your question. Based on what you are describing, it seems although you may have no recollection of doing so, you have personally guaranteed this debt. The language indicating personal guarantee is often very easy to miss when signing up for lines of credit, especially those products solicited or applied for by mail or online. As for the legality of reporting, if they are reporting erroneously, due to fraud or some other issue such as wrong social, AKA or other issue than the item in question may be removable. It does not appear that this is the case as you (on behalf of your business) borrowed the money and used it to build the business, but claim no responsibility for repayment as you no longer own the business.
In order to establish true business credit, businesses must endeavor in properly a) Filing for Incorporation b) Completing Credit Bureau Checks c)Registering business with Credit Bureau's d) Obtaining credit in the business name/TIN only, and establishing a record of formal (good standing) reporting utilizing a 1-3-5 format 1 Business Line of Credit/loan, 3 business credit cards, 5 vendor/supplier/leases/utilities. If the real issue is repayment of the debt as it appears to be non-transferable than you may want to consider offering a settlement amount to get the account resolved. You can also engage a commercial debt mediation firm to do this on your behalf. My advice is don't wait for this to escalate by focusing on how it is reporting, get the payment aspect resolved and fix the reporting damage later.
