Am I Personally Liable?

[Emily60]

Hello There,

I was hoping you could provide me a little advice.

I own a small corporation that's currently not in operation any longer. 2 years ago I deposited a check for $9,000 from a customer and the bank cleared it. Days later the check bounced. The bank started sending letters asking for a return of the money. I no longer had it (was in the midst of being frauded by a family friend). The collection company abused some collection laws and I had an ombudsman put the collections temporarily on hold.

Two years later now the same bank with a new collection's company is contacting me for the $9,000 again and I still haven't recovered from the fraud and have no means to pay. My 2 questions are this:

1. Because the check was payable to my corporation and deposited in my corporate account, if I don't pay them back, can they ever hold me personally liable (garnish my wages, get a judgment again me personally or anything else on a personal level)?

2. Can they ever touch my personal credit score because of the delinquent debt?

Any assistance would be great. I guess I'm not fully clear on the personal protection I'm given because it's my corporation that owes the money.

Emily

[seniorjudge]

1. Because the check was payable to my corporation and deposited in my corporate account, if I don't pay them back, can they ever hold me personally liable (garnish my wages, get a judgment again me personally or anything else on a personal level)?

A: Yes.



2. Can they ever touch my personal credit score because of the delinquent debt?

A: Yes.

[Emily60]

seniorjudge: under what grounds? Is it just automatic? I thought there was protection under a corporation.

[geg001]

its likely that you were the signor on the corporate account. that is how they get to you. as well as likely being named agent of said corporation

[Mr. Knowitall]

I'm not going to give you the same sort of absolute answer as seniorjudge. But as geg001 said, it is very possible that you accepted personal responsibility for the bank account when you opened the account.

Have you tried asking the collection agency why they are attempting to hold you individually liable, or reviewing your account information (assuming you kept it)?