hi, jim ~ bankruptcy records are accessible to the public both on-line
through the U.S. Bankruptcy Courts, and in major newspapers. initial
bankruptcy filings are reported, but not usually any additional
information. For a business it would be a Chapter 7 or a Chapter 11
proceeding. To look it up in a newspaper, you'd probably have to know
at least the month they may have filed, to narrow down your search
range of bankruptcy listings. Most newspapers will publish the
filings on a weekly basis.
Here's a quick explanation of how a company can go into bankruptcy:
Federal bankruptcy laws govern how companies go out of business or
recover from crippling debt. A bankrupt company, the "debtor," might
use Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code to "reorganize" its business and
try to become profitable again. Management continues to run the
day-to-day business operations but all significant business decisions
must be approved by a bankruptcy court.
Under Chapter 7, the company stops all operations and goes completely
out of business. A trustee is appointed to "liquidate" (sell) the
company's assets and the money is used to pay off the debt, which may
include debts to creditors and investors.
Now, finding out if a specific company filed might be more difficult.
If they are a company that issues publicly-traded STOCK, you might
find the information on the Securities & Exchange Commission's website
- EDGAR - www.sec.gov/edgar. you'll need to know the company's
proper name.
Unless you can give the researcher the name of the city where the
company operated, or where its headquarters were located, and its
EXACT CORPORATE NAME, i doubt that anyone can help you determine if
they filed a bankruptcy action. If you know the state where they are
incorporated [not just the place they do business], that's your best
place to look for bankruptcy filing info. Depending on the size of
the state they are in, there might be more than one U.S. Bankruptcy
Court. My state, for instance, has three (3) separate Districts where
bankruptcy filings could be made, depending on the city where a
business operates. Otherwise someone would have to check every
bankruptcy court in every state and that's just impractical. So, i'd
suggest you give the researcher MORE INFO - the State where the
business is incorporated, the State/City where the Travel Agency is
located that you are inquiring about, and if they are part of a larger
corporate entity that might have filed under a different name.
if they DID file for bankruptcy protection, and you are a creditor
[they owe you money], you should have been notified by the Trustee's
office, if the company listed you as a creditor. I don't want to
cross the line into giving legal advice, because I cannot do that -
not being a lawyer. But i am permitted to tell you from general
knowledge that if they ARE in bankruptcy, there are basically two
kinds of creditors [this is an overly simplified explanation, but take
it for what it's worth:
SECURED CREDITOR [i.e., you sold them something that is tangible and
still exists and might be returned to you still having value/being
worth something, like cars, or desks or computers]
UNSECURED CREDITOR [you loaned them money, or sold them/provided
services - something that was spent on other goods, or services
provided that obviously cannot be "returned"]
SECURED CREDITORS just MIGHT, possibly, maybe, be placed in a line to
get some of their stuff back, or get paid for it. There's a LOT of
if's and maybe's in bankruptcy - depending on whether the company went
Chapter 11 [still operating, i.e., maybe still making money and not
hemorrhaging cash], or Chapter 7 [flat out quit, out of business,
locked the doors & walked away]. A lot depends on the PRIORITY of a
given debt, as well, whether you are SECURED or UNSECURED. All
SECURED CREDITORS are not "equal" under the bankruptcy laws. the IRS,
for example, and debts to employees, gets the highest priority towards
repayment. And it ALL depends on whether there are any assets or
incoming monies that can be used to start repaying creditors. Even
the IRS might have to settle for so many cents on the dollar to get
anything back at all.
good luck. |
