Yet a 3rd bankruptcy question?

How long does it take a creditor to be notified by the bankruptcy court after a bankruptcy filing? Here’s my situation:

Mr. X formed corporation ABCDEFG and operated a business 200 miles away from me. ABCDEFG owes me about $1000. After 6 months of “The check is in the mail”, Mr. X informs me that he has filed for personal bankruptcy. He claims that ABCDEFG no longer exists and that I (and several others in my area) are out of luck. All requests for documentation have been ignored.

Now, two months later, I find that a new corporation ABCDEGF (almost identical name) has opened for business at the location of ABCDEFG. Same employees, same phone number, same web page. Both corporations are listed with the department of state in that state.

I suspect a sham. I suspect that the assets of ABCDEFG were transferred to ABCDEGF and that ABCDEFG simply intends to screw its creditors by ignoring them.

Suggestions?

Disclaimer: not a lawyer, but work in the bankruptcy field.

Creditors usually get notified within a couple weeks after a case is filed. You can call the state’s bankruptcy court (it’s Federal, check the phone book’s government pages- any bankruptcy court should be able to give you the number for another); they can tell you whether they show a filing and whether your address is listed in the mailing matrix.

Caveat: your stated facts are that the business was a corporation and the bankruptcy was his personal one. If that’s true, they are independent- the corporation is an entity of its own; its creditors are not his, neither does his bankruptcy affect the corp, generally speaking.

So, did the corporation file bankruptcy, too? If so, look into that case. If not, you’ll probably have to have an attorney look into it (if it’s worth it).

To add:

The owner alledges personal bankruptcy, yet the corporation was the one to owe me the money. The owner alledges that the old corporation is defunct and there are no assets with which to pay the claim. In other words: “tough luck”.

I’ve considered suing the NEW corporation but don’t know whether it would do any good. Incidentally, Mr. X now claims to be “just an employee” of the new corporation.

And other tidbits: According to the state’s Department of State, Mr. X was the clerk/agent for the old corporation. The clerk/agent for the new corporation is an attorney who (according to the Yellow Pages) happens to specalize in bankruptcy law.

In that case, my inclination is that you are out of luck unless you can prove some kind fraud- you’d definitely need an attorney there. Check your yellow pages for bankruptcy attorneys who specialize in creditor matters.

You’re right, if your claim is with the first corp, suing the new one wouldn’t do anything (that is, unless your fraud case above proved it wasn’t really a new one)…