Personal debt and business...really need some help here

[seattle]

I owned a sole pro business for a few years, incurred some major debt, about $80,000 in personal credit cards. About 30% of the debt was used for business related expenses.

I lost the business 2 years. The new owners decided to keep the same business name (not sure if that matters or not)

My question: Can the creditors go after the new owners for the personal debt that I incurred while I owned the business?

[seattle]

Personal debt and business. Really need some input here.

[duplicate thread merged]

[justbroke]

Seattle, I merged these threads because they are exactly the same and duplicate threads cause problems for people to follow the answers!

No, the creditors can't go after the new owners unless you sold them the business along with the debt. I was involved in a business transaction where we purchased a business subject to the existing debt and just liquidated the business and paid off the creditors. We just wanted them out of business, not their store. (Was a competitor.)

Now, that was done on purpose. I don't know how you structured this particular deal. If they bought the name and the debt with it... then they own the debt! Your personal guarantee just guaranteed the business debt. So, if you used your non-business credit card at a regular retailer for "personal" use, then that doesn't magically transfer to the business.

I think your real issue is that you used non-business credit cards to finance part of the business. I don't see how the creditors can attach that debt to the business. I'm not saying that a Junk Debt Buyer (JDB) won't try. I actually wouldn't put it past a JDB! I bk'd my personal debt and that of my failed Real Estate venture. I actually had JDBs calling post-discharge about the debt. I told them it was discharged. They answered that it never discharges against the business itself and that they'd "look into" what they can do. I told them "good luck" and that if they called "me" personally again, we can talk about it in the Bankruptcy court when I file a motion for sanctions.