Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in New Jersey
Can I lose my house?
In December I purchase a restaurant with sellers financing. The seller lied on his financials and we fell for it thus taking a home equity loan to buy the business with some seller's financing. Since then, the business never did as well as he said it did and we fell behind on payments back to the seller for the rest of the balance. Now he is taking us to court. Unfortunately, we personally guaranteed the payments. The balance now due is $29,500.00. Can I lose my house over this? Or is there a way to protect my house? I am planning to counter sue for fraud but ultimately we understand that we made the bad decision to buy the business. He lied on his cash financials saying there was more cash made than credit and he only reported credit sales. We do have a copy of that tax return he provided us. I am prepared to fight but not prepared to lose my house. On top of all this, we are now behind on the rent and personally guaranteed the lease as well.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Can I lose my house?
You, sir, you need a lawyer. Today, not tomorrow, talk to a lawyer today.
First you have to find out what your options are, and what the likely costs will be.
Second, you want to make sure that you do not lose your house in all of this.
The specific wording of the documents may greatly affect your chances here.
This kind of mess, where the financials are not accurate, is fairly common. The good news, and it is good news, is that you owe a good deal of money to the people who tricked you. This will be a defense to their claim to be paid. You can expect a real fight. You will have the difficult task of running a business and also fighting a legal battle at the same time. Part of your lawyer's job is to keep the legal fight from interfering with your business.
I would be happy to talk with you. The telephone consultation will be free. I will do what I can to help you out.
My contact information can be obtained from the links below, just click on the Attorney Profile link. Let my secretary know you found me through LawGuru.
Disclaimer: you can not rely on the advice of an attorney given over the internet. The exact facts of your situation, including facts which you have not mentioned in your question, may completely change the result for your situation.