[jakesoon]

I received a summons and due to several mentally challenging problems I was facing I forgot to answer it. I own a company which owes a supply house at the time of the judgement aprox. $48,000.00. Since I did not answer the summons, it went to a default judgement. 2 Months prior to our first court date, they froze my business bank accounts. Since this time I have offered them 5 separate proposals to settle this amount owed. I am stating to them if they continue to freeze my bank accounts and accounts receivables, they are going to force me into bankruptcy and they will get nothing. All my assetts and financial problems occurred in a fire my business suffered June 2006. After the fire is where all my problems started, mainly due to lack of help and very slow pay from my insurance. None the less, my last proposal to them was to pay the 16,000.00 in materials and equipment that I owe them, plus reasonable interest dating back to the oldest invoice, plus reasonable attorny fees of $3,000.00. It would have been paid off to them in 4-5 months in a large payment, not stretched out over years. They replied a straight out rejection, no counter offer and they are continuing harsh means of collections against my company. I just got word they are sending 85 letters to freeze all my accounts receivable which leaves me little to no options other than bankruptcy. Their judgement is for $17,000.00 in attorney fees and 15,000.00 in interest, plus what I actually owe. To me, this seems like they are intentionally trying to force me into bankruptcy, and I do not understand why. Is there anything at all legally I can do to stop them or at minimum make the courts realize that what they are asking for is totally unfair to say the least. Keep in mind that this supply house is a company in which I did $250,000.00 a year with for 3-4 years in a row and never paid late... and the only reason I fell behind in the first place is I lost everything I had ever had to a fire in June of 2006 which was a complete loss. We had very good insurance but they were not there for me and to this day, everything with insurance has been a complete nightmare. Again, I feel that what this supply house is asking for is totally ridiculous and they are not concerned about getting back the monies owed but what they are concerned with is driving my company to bankruptcy. Any advice at all??

[Ladyviper]

Get a lawyer that specializes in small business, that sounds like your only option at this point.

[ScottGem]

See if they will accept a mediator, or better yet, an arbitrator.

[jakesoon]

I have a lawyer which I feel has done a very good job. We have done everything they have asked, paperwork, depositions, etc, and nothing seems to help.