Hello.

I made a deal with a company back in Sept 07. They were to pay me X amount of dollars every month until Aug 09 for something I did for them back then. Lo and behold, they're in major debt now and just emailed me to say that they cannot fulfill my monthly payments anymore.

They're telling me that they'll give me Y stock options for the value of my remaining payments. When they "sell the company" they'll pay me back the full amount because of this. This sounds sketchy to me. How can someone sell a company that's in debt and make money to pay me?

This is a privately held company.

First off, is there the possibility (even with legal help) that I cannot get my owed money? Can a company just "go under" and not need to pay back its debts? Aren't companies normally underwritten by a bank? Could I sue the individual for this cash?

What are my options?

Thank you!