Business Debt/Personal Guarantee

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Expert: - 7/8/2010


Question
I signed a personal guaranty on behalf of the President of the corporation to a credit card terminal leasing company.  The corporation has since been sold in an Article 9 sale and the terminals are no longer needed.  The leasing company obviously wishes to hold me personally liable for the balance of the lease.  Can they come after me?  Under what language in the contract would they ever be able to enforce this?  

Thank you for your time.

Answer
Gail:
Thank you for your inquiry. I assume based on your comments that you were an employee and not a principal of the firm. If that is the case, you need to dispute the guarantee as this agreement was not guaranteed for personal use. If they put the account in collections for non payment, they may ignore the insolvent or new ownership status of the corp and go after whomever name was on the contract. You will need to be diligent and make sure this is consistently disputed and make sure they are attempting to collect against the corp itself. You should contact the new owners and let them know your dilemma and assure they claim assumption of the debt. Advice from an attorney who handles collection matters would be beneficial. Also, you should check to see if the statute of limitations for collections on this account has expired. You can visit: http://www.fair-debt-collection.com/SOL-by-State.html#T

Lastly, if given no other choice, you can offer a very low settlement to the leasing company to get the account resolved and pursue the corp for remuneration. I hope you find this helpful and if so, please respond with a favorable rating or comment.

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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