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Business Debt/Business debts and personal guarantee

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Expert: - 8/5/2009


Question
I have a business that had a very bad last 12 months, and all of our various credit facilities are reaching maximums. (There have been no late payments yet, but it is inevitable that it will happen soon.) All of these credit facilities are unsecured and in the company name, but I am guarantor of all of them. Is there any way to settle or file bankruptcy for the company without trashing my personal credit and sucking my personal finances dry?

Answer
Troy:
Thank you for your inquiry. I regret that your business is suffering, no doubt due to present economic conditions. If you are considering your options for debt resolution, you must first begin by realistically assessing your business model to calculate its potential to generate revenues. If there is potential, than likely you will need to make several adjustments which may include, cutting staff, changing pricing and of course cutting expenses. If the business has no ability to generate, than you must explore the lease evasive way to cut losses. Filing for bankruptcy (assuming you qualify) is the most evasive and damaging method and since you personally guaranteed the debt, it would likely need to be a personal BK. If you settle the debt, it may report to you personally which will decline your score short term, but enable rebuilding much faster than a bankruptcy. There is no way other than pay your debts in full to get around this, but that is a matter of your financial ability to continue paying as agreed in exchange for the upkeep of a score that no matter what is subject to change. Remember just having too much debt to limit ratio (it appears you may be reaching that point) can lower your score even if you remain current. If you wish to explore settlement on your business accounts I would be pleased to help you out.

Respectfully,

Christine Janklow

Business Debt

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Christine 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. In the area of commercial debt settlement I have over 10 years experience working with large and medium corporations and closely held businesses to enable successful debt reduction and turnaround. I am a professional debt arbitrator and have negotiated with major banking institutions as well as vendors, suppliers and other trade creditors.

Organizations
Provisors;Turnaround Management Association; Los Angeles area

Publications
Accounting Today; Web CPA; National Restauarant Association;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, food service industry and other small businesses and service providers.

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