Legal Question in Bankruptcy in California
Unsecured debts relating to bankruptcy
I am a freelance graphic artist. I worked for a designer on
a long-term project, would bill him, he would bill the
company and when they paid him he would pay me. He got
cancer and passed away. When it was determined that he could
no longer do the job, I took over, but because I wasn't
vendorized with the company I did my billing through the
printer rep. He would mark up my bill, when the company paid
him he would pay me. This was agreed upon by the company,
myself, and the printer rep. Last April when my last bill
for $34K came due he told me the company had paid him, but
that he didn't have my money! We worked it out so that he
was paying me $1,500/month and had been doing that regularly
until a month ago. He still owes me $20K. I got a fax from
his lawyer stating that his company is insolvent and has no
means to pay unsecured debts. What is a definition of what
he did originally and is there any legal action I can or
should take? He is hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt,
having to sell his house and other property, and it has no
assets to pay anyone other than se
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Unsecured debts relating to bankruptcy
If he has not filed bankruptcy, the debt is still, technically at least, collectible. It is called conversion and/or breach of agreement. It might be difficult to collect at this time, however. I wish you luck. -Robert F. Cohen
Re: Unsecured debts relating to bankruptcy
While this other party was wrong in what he did, if he filed bankruptcy you are out of luck. You can hire an attorney and try to have your debt ruled exempt from the BK based on fraud. However, it sounds like this guy will be a long time in being in a position to pay you back.
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