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Business Debt/Questions Answered by Expert Michael Fay
| Subject | Date Asked |
| SBA Loan personal guarantor | 7/22/2011 |
| Q: I am part of an S Corporation in California that received a loan of $200K, and am one of the two ... A: Frank, The answer to the question about the personal guarantee is not one that really applies to the ... | |
| Outstanding debt owed by corporation | 5/9/2011 |
| Q: Are the owners and the officers personally responsible for a debt incurred by the corp and can the ... A: James, The answer depends. You will need to check the terms of the contract under which the debt ... | |
| personal debt vs. business debt | 2/9/2011 |
| Q: Can credit card companies that I personal owe freeze the account of my L.L.C.company AND TAKE THAT ... A: Allen, the same answers apply. LLC and INC are two different types of the same thing and the law ... | |
| personal debt vs. business debt | 2/9/2011 |
| Q: Can credit card companies that I personal owe freeze the account of my L.L.C.company AND TAKE THAT ... A: Allen, There is not enough information here to fully answer that question, because I don’t know how ... | |
| Business debt after dissolution | 12/10/2010 |
| Q: I just asked you a question about my former employer. I just realized that my lawyer stated that ... A: "Administrative dissolution" just means that the state dissolved the corporation for failure to pay ... | |
| Business debt after dissolution | 12/10/2010 |
| Q: I worked for a medical equipment S corp in Georgia that has recently dissolved. During my ... A: Kevin You are correct in that the corporation had a duty to notify creditors of the dissolution and ... | |
| AMEX card | 11/30/2010 |
| Q: This is some background information. I was trying to help a friend build his business so I agreed ... A: You probably cannot report the bad debt to D&B. The reason is that they do not accept unsolicited ... | |
| AMEX card | 11/29/2010 |
| Q: This is some background information. I was trying to help a friend build his business so I agreed ... A: While I do not know the particulars around the case, I believe that the attorney is WRONG! (and a ... | |
| Valid Debt? | 11/10/2010 |
| Q: Today I received a phone call from an attorney's office claiming to be collecting a debt. Almost 6 ... A: I would wait until you get “the letter” and then I would also report them to your state’s attorney ... | |
| Valid Debt? | 11/9/2010 |
| Q: Today I received a phone call from an attorney's office claiming to be collecting a debt. Almost 6 ... A: Tonya, Like you, I am suspicious of the claim(s) being presented (although probably not a suspicious ... | |
| Florida LLC Debt | 11/2/2010 |
| Q: We have a disputed Bill with our accountant for our LLC tax returns. The accountant is threatening ... A: Brian, It is true that LLC’s and corporations are organized to protect your personal assets from ... | |
| LLC offset | 9/29/2010 |
| Q: Can BOA offset my LLC for my business partners line of credit he defaulted on even though his line ... A: Bank of America must believe that they had some basis to take such an action. Without knowing such ... | |
| Debt guarantee after death | 9/22/2010 |
| Q: My folks personally guaranteed a large business loan through a bank. The loan is structured to take ... A: Cheri- The answer depends upon many factors, beginning with the language in the contract itself. ... | |
| collecting | 5/28/2010 |
| Q: \i am a wholesaler and am owed money from a retail store...i have copies of invoices and the ... A: The answer depends mostly upon the terms listed on your contract as well as the laws of the State/ ... | |
| Is the company liable for debts incurred by the employee | 5/18/2010 |
| Q: Company "Books" which offers magazines etc, long relationship with another company who supply goods ... A: You used two names: Books and Brookes and I cannot tell if this is the same or not. It does not ... | |
| sba loan assumption | 5/17/2010 |
| Q: Six years ago we purchased a business and entered into 2 SBA backed loans thru a large bank. We sold ... A: The additional details have not significantly changed the original analysis. They are trying to ... | |
| sba loan assumption | 5/16/2010 |
| Q: Six years ago we purchased a business and entered into 2 SBA backed loans thru a large bank. We sold ... A: SJ- The collection agency is grasping at straws. This is not uncommon. They often assume that any ... | |
| SBA loan workout (offer in compromise) | 5/13/2010 |
| Q: My current situation is that I have just started escrow with a short sale that I am doing on my two ... A: Susie, I need to be careful in my response, since I am a volunteer with SCORE and they are very ... | |
| Dissolution of DBA--Was OWED Money and had no debts | 3/20/2010 |
| Q: My question is the opposite of the one I've seen posted several places, so it may be slightly ... A: Joshua- The standard statute of limitations should apply, so that would be governed by whatever ... | |
| S-Corp Default on line of credit | 3/2/2010 |
| Q: I run a small business in California as an S-corp. When the business was incorporated, my wife was ... A: Alex, I apologize for the delay, I did not receive any e-mail notification of your question until ... | |
| old , old , debt | 1/9/2010 |
| Q: Today my husband received a letter in the mail from llc. they were offering a 80 % discount on ... A: I cannot answer what this might be because I have no details. However, I can tell you that if the ... | |
| S Corp bankruptcy W/personal guarantees | 1/8/2010 |
| Q: I am a 50% shareholder in a Subchapter S Corp. My business partner, who owns the other 50% is ... A: Hopefully the other partner has not yet left the business or if (s)he has, that it happened very ... | |
| Corporate Debt and Personal Guarantee | 11/25/2009 |
| Q: My former company purchased equipment over 8 years ago from a leasing company and in turn, I signed ... A: John- Boy, this is a toughie. This is a legal matter and you should seek professional legal ... | |
| Settlement of Personally Guaranteed S corp Line of Credit | 10/30/2009 |
| Q: I am part owner of an S corp that has a business line of credit which I signed a personal guarantee. ... A: Rus- The answer depends on whether or not the bank chooses to report the personal credit aspects and ... | |
| business credit card debt default | 10/26/2009 |
| Q: I purchased a franchise in Florida 18 months ago and operate as a sole proprietor. My husband never ... A: Christi. As you might have guessed, this is a legal question as well as a financial one, and I want ... | |
| dissolving an S-Corp. | 10/24/2009 |
| Q: Good Day, I have an S-Corp than I have had for 8 years. I have found no alternative, do to this raw ... A: Linda As you probably know, your question is a legal one as well as a financial one, and I want to ... | |
| Personal liability for corporate debt | 10/23/2009 |
| Q: We have a small business which is incorporated and have been experiencing financial difficulty. We ... A: Anna Your question is a legal one as well as a financial one, and I want to begin by saying that I ... | |
| Late / Finance Charges | 9/8/2009 |
| Q: In dealing with a debt of a "Yellow Page" publisher that has been turned over to a collection ... A: I am not an attorney, nor am I a debt collector, but I do know that you are blending the two ... | |
| business credit card debt | 8/5/2009 |
| Q: I had a bank of america business credit card that I could not pay. My partner and I have a joint ... A: Correct. Because this is a general purpose account there is no way to identify the source of the ... | |
| business credit card debt | 8/5/2009 |
| Q: I had a bank of america business credit card that I could not pay. My partner and I have a joint ... A: Tragically, the answer is yes. This is not the first time that I have seen this happen and it is ... | |
| plumbing | 8/4/2009 |
| Q: I did some work for someone that had some plumbing problems. There house insurance was going to ... A: When you did the walk through, did you get the go-ahead in writing? How about a business card? Did ... | |
| Business Credit Card Debt | 6/26/2009 |
| Q: I previously detailed my entire situation with Ms. Janklow who was extremely gracious in her ... A: Caution: You are asking questions about bankruptcy and while I have some experience on the ... | |
| Business debt | 6/25/2009 |
| Q: If a creditor is awarded a judgement against a business, can the business checking account be ... A: Yes. A judgment is a legal decision against the debtor, in this case a business. There are many ... | |
| leverage ratio | 6/19/2009 |
| Q: h r u sir In the business which debt to equity ratio is better to make the business successful in ... A: Answer: All of the ratios will be important to the long term success of the business, not just those ... | |
Business Debt
Answers by Expert:
Michael Fay
Top Expert on this page
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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