Creditor Question

[jonpaul42]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NY

A customer of mine who is a NY registered corporation appears to be going out of business. He owes my business approx $1500. I do not have a personal guarantee from him. It is unclear at this time if he has filed for bankruptcy.

When I visited his store last week to collect the funds, he said he could not pay me. I told him I wanted to take my samples back, some of which he purchased from me and others that I consigned to him. He said his attorney advised him not to let any vendor take samples regardless of how they were obtained as it was against the law. He would not specify what law to which his attorney was referring.

Am I breaking any law by going back and taking my samples, especially those that were consigned?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

 

[cosine]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NY

A customer of mine who is a NY registered corporation appears to be going out of business. He owes my business approx $1500. I do not have a personal guarantee from him. It is unclear at this time if he has filed for bankruptcy.

When I visited his store last week to collect the funds, he said he could not pay me. I told him I wanted to take my samples back, some of which he purchased from me and others that I consigned to him. He said his attorney advised him not to let any vendor take samples regardless of how they were obtained as it was against the law. He would not specify what law to which his attorney was referring.

Am I breaking any law by going back and taking my samples, especially those that were consigned?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

He (his business) apparently has filed, or is in the process of filing, for bankruptcy. One thing bankruptcy does (requires of the filer) is the freezing of all exchange of property or money, until the court determines how it is to be distributed. You should be notified of the bankruptcy as one of the creditors. Assuming only a fraction of assets are available to pay creditors, you would get only a fraction of what is owed to you. You (your attorney) would need to argue to the court/trustee that certain properties remained your property, were not the property of the petitioner, and that you should recover them in full. Whether you can succeed at that, I do not know. My experience in this has not included things like that, though I heard of a case 2nd hand where an auto repair shop went bankrupt, and all cars in the shop for repairs were returned to their owners (presumably after the owners paid the trustee for completed repairs).

 

[jonpaul42]

I spoke with my customer's lawyer who told me that the company has not filed for bankruptcy at this time. Based on this information, am I breaking any laws by going back and taking my samples, especially those that have been consigned?