When an individual or business owes your company money, you may need to compel them to pay by engaging in collection activity. Sending letters and calling can help but may not result in the complete repayment of the debt. When standard collection tactics don't work, you may need to take the debtor to court. If you can show that the debt is valid, the...
There are numerous ways that debtors filing for bankruptcy might abuse the system with fraudulent activity. Hiding assets from creditors is a common scheme since people don't want to give up their property but still want to receive a discharge of their debts. However, it is possible for people to abuse bankruptcy proceedings in other ways. Someone...
Your company loans money to a small business, which then fails to pay it back. When you ask for payment on that debt, they claim they have no cash and couldn’t even pay if they wanted to. Are you still able to collect? First of all, if you’re considering legal action and a lawsuit, remember that winning the suit doesn’t hinge on whether or not the company...
As a business owner, it can be extremely frustrating when you cannot get paid for the work that you’ve done or the services you’ve provided. Seeing someone take from you without being willing to pay what’s owed is hurtful and harms your business. Sometimes, it’s possible to seek out compensation through a judgment. The other party may show up to court to...
If someone owes you money and you’re trying to collect, it’s already a frustrating situation. If they would have just paid like they agreed to do, this whole situation could have been avoided. But they haven’t paid, and now you have to try to actively seek that money. Worse yet, you believe that they could pay. It’s not an issue of not having the assets...
An individual owes your business a significant amount of money. Despite having a job, a vehicle and a house, they claim that they simply cannot make payments on what they owe you and default on the debt. Maybe they even try to file for bankruptcy to keep you from suing them or move some of their assets to a different form of ownership. People often try to...
What happens to people after death? No one knows for sure – but one thing is certain: if they are in debt in California at the time of their death, some of their debts will have to be paid. This is because California is a community property state, meaning that a marriage or a registered domestic partnership makes both parties one “community.” This gives...
One of the benefits of starting a corporation or LLC is that the business entity protects the owner(s) from any personal liability. If the business fails, if it faces a major lawsuit or if it accrues substantial debt, the company and not the person who runs the business will be financially responsible. While this system protects people from major losses...
If a Limited Liability Company (LLC) owes your client money, it will be hard to seek payment from the owner’s personal assets. Yet, it can also work the other way around. If someone has personal debt, they may still have assets in their LLC, which they think you cannot touch. They are, in part, correct, but not entirely. What is a charging order? Let’s say...
Companies that extend credit to individuals and those that offer billing after service have been performed will often wonder how they can collect on those debts. While many people who utilize credit to pay for things will take care of those bills, there are some cases in which companies will have to fight for what they’re due. California laws set specific...