Business Debt/Business debt

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Expert: - 6/25/2009


Question
If a creditor is awarded a judgement against a business, can the business checking account be attached?

Answer
Yes.  A judgment is a legal decision against the debtor, in this case a business.  There are many options for satisfaction including but not limited to garnish wages or to attach personal property.  Bank accounts are one of the most common forms of property because they are already liquid and won’t require the creditor as winner of the judgment to sell anything to get paid.  If you have a cash register, the sheriff can even seize the money in the register.

Note that the steps required will vary from state to state and you should consult an attorney for a more detailed legal opinion for your state.  If there is a judgment, you may in many cases be able to enter into a structured plan with the creditor.  The reason is that each step they take to seize bank accounts or other assets costs them more time and more money.  Again an attorney will be able to help you with this agreement.

Best of luck.
Michael

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Michael Fay

Expertise

My focus and specialty is in credit, so that the risk of the debt itself is minimized. This means understanding it, predicting it, and helping to correct it. Having worked in contracts & credit, I have also worked with all of the related documents such as Guarantees (personal and corporate), and Security Agreements (aka UCC’s or “liens” – but I caution you in using those interchangeably).

Experience

I have a broad background with more than 15 years in the credit industry. Ten years with Dun and Bradstreet, first as a field reporter creating reports, then in customer service, finally I served as the credit manager designing risk models for many national and international customers through D&B’s Outsourcing function. Five years with another publicly traded firm where I created the credit department and then served as credit manager for North America. At both companies we used both business and consumer data. You probably know that both business and personal credit have scores; what you might not know is how many different types of scores there are. I am familiar with and have used many different scores in each. Also be aware that each credit type (business & personal) is unique with different processes and different time frames. I have served on the board of directors for companies in many states and still serve in some capacity in a few. I contribute to credit publications and work with the non-profit arm of the SBA called SCORE.

Organizations
ACA International * NACM * Credit Risk Managers * SCORE (SBA)- Counselors to America’s Small Business * Payment Card Industry Network * PaymentSource.com * D&B Alumni * Psi Chi, National Honor Society for Psychologists

Education/Credentials
BIS in Business and Psychology, University of Minnesota * MBA is still in progress (on-line)

Awards and Honors
State of Colorado - State finals in Accounting and Advanced Accounting. * D&B Leadership Winner (3 times) * D&B Leadership Finalist (3 times) *

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