If you are someone to whom a business owes money and that business files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, you may begin to hold grave concerns about whether or not you’ll get paid in full… or maybe whether you’ll get paid at all. Creditors do not lose all their rights to collect just because a debtor files for bankruptcy, though. If you find yourself in that position, be sure you act without delay to retain the services of a skilled South Florida commercial bankruptcy attorney to preserve your right to collect, or at least minimize your losses.
Recently, a Tampa builder was in exactly that sort of position. The builder had inked a deal with a local veterinarian’s LLC to do approximately a half-million dollars of interior finish work on the veterinarian’s new clinic in Tampa. However, in the middle of the project, the LLC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
The builder wisely took the step of retaining counsel and filing a claim in the bankruptcy case. In most bankruptcy cases, a creditor has only a limited period of time in which to file a proof of claim. In a Chapter 11 case, the bankruptcy judge will enter an order that sets the deadline date for that case. Soon after the court enters that order, the debtor is required to send notice to all known creditors telling them when that deadline date is.