already repo'd... being sued...what is safe?

[doubleunruh]

Our main business is already in the process of bankruptcy and has been shut down. We had a car that was in the company name and we voluntarily turned it in (felt it wasn't right to keep a high end car while business going under) We thought we were doing the right thing. Turns out my husband signed a personal guarantee on car as well and now we are being sued personally as well. My question is this... If we have another completely different LLC with assets and an attached bank account with him as a signer, can these assets and accounts be touched in lawsuit? Should his name be taken off accounts or is that illegal? We are trying to avoid claiming a personal bankruptcy on top of company bankruptcy. Advise??

[AngelinaCatHub]

First, welcome aboard. You will get help here.

First I'll say what I know. DO NOT change names on anything. This is obfuscation and is an attempt to evade or hide assets. A personal signature is as if hubby cosigned for another person. A company is an entity treated as if it were a person. If you can afford the car attempt to get it back or you are stuck with a suit for the deficiency.

I'm not sure what the laws are in attempting to cross sue from one LLC to another, but hubby's stuck with the car bit. An LLC is a Limited Liability but read the rules and laws upon that, or better yet, get a lawyer who knows business law. Best I can do for you. 'Hub

[doni49]

They may or may not be able to take LLC assets. BUT hubby's INTEREST in the LLC is an asset.

IOW - they can make you give them the LLC (or a portion thereof).

[bcohen]

@AngelinaCatHub

If the OP is being sued, that means the car has already been sold at auction, and now the lender (or possibly a junk debt buyer) is attempting to collect the deficiency. So attempting to "get the car back" would be futile at this point.

If personal bankruptcy is out of the question, then I suggest filing an answer to the lawsuit in order to buy some time. Then use that time to talk settlement, because otherwise you're going to be stuck with an inflated judgment amount at 10% APR (or whatever your state's judgment interest rate is) and they can empty your bank account(s) and even garnish your wages at the same time!

To put this into perspective, I had a Discover Card which I quit paying on in March of 2009 due to economic hardship. The credit card originally had a $3500 limit. By the time it charged-off in November of 2009, the balance inflated to approximately $6000. In the years from 2010 to 2012, I was contacted by numerous law firms/collection agencies and offered the "opportunity" to settle the debt in full for $3000. The problem was that I did not have $3000, and I also had other debts, so settling this one would not have been too worthwhile. I got sued in September of 2012, and although I fought the lawsuit every step of the way, I ended up getting hit with a judgment for almost $9000 in January of 2013.

In my case, I never intended to pay anything toward the judgment, and was planning to file for bankruptcy in the near future (which I eventually did on April 12). However, if bankruptcy was out of the question, then I certainly would have made some effort to settle for less than the balance owed, rather than risk a vastly inflated judgment with the risk of having my bank account wiped out and no way to pay rent/utilities, buy groceries, etc. In fact, before I filed for bankruptcy, Discover's law firm attempted to levy my bank account with a whopping $61 in it!

[LadyInTheRed]

This thread is 6 months old. I hope the OP has consulted with an attorney on this issue by now. But, since I already typed it before noticing, I will add this in case it is still helpful to the OP or anybody else:

If we have another completely different LLC with assets and an attached bank account with him as a signer, can these assets and accounts be touched in lawsuit? Should his name be taken off accounts or is that illegal? We are trying to avoid claiming a personal bankruptcy on top of company bankruptcy. Advise??

The issue is not that he is a signor on the account. If it is an account in the name of the LLC, your husband's judgment creditor can not get at the account just because he is a signatory on the account. But, as 'Hub pointed at, he can't just move funds to the LLC to try to avoid paying a judgment. A judgment creditor can have the transfer voided as a fraudulent transfer. Also, a judgment creditor can place a lien against your husband's interest in the LLC. I'm not sure whether the creditor could force a liquidation of LLC assets. In the BK context, as already mentioned, the interest in the LLC is an asset that the trustee can liquidate if it is not exempt.

Then use that time to talk settlement[/b], because otherwise you're going to be stuck with an inflated judgment amount at 10% APR (or whatever your state's judgment interest rate is)

It's 10% in California.