A company is a separate entity from an individual. A
company is a legalised body, meaning that it can sue and be sued.
Today, the issue of getting into debts does not only imply to
individuals. Companies also run into serious debts owed to so many
individuals. Therefore, if you are making a claim against a company,
you will realise that there are so many others making such claims over
the same thing you are laying claims on, and this is common when making
claims on companies than on private individuals.
When a Corporation Enters Into Economic Difficulty
The
financial existence of a corporation will depend on its business
standing and the remaining capital that it possesses. Just like every
individual will seek for a loan, a corporation too can get into debts
and if the corporation fails to redeem it debts in a situation of
economic crises, the debts would further increase. Remember that the
taxes of the corporation are just a fraction of what is owed by the
corporation to others.
With the advent of economic hardship, a
corporation will still want to maintain its feet in doing business.
This means that its main concern should be to pay its workers. When
this is taken as main concern, the corporation may fail to meet up with
other financial obligations such as paying its taxes. This has resulted
in state as well as federal administration to use the same means of
collecting taxes from individual on corporations.
When this is
done, the administration will have a power or legal right over the
assets of the corporation and this will be sold to financiers who are
willing and able to redeem the debts of the corporation. Whoever pays
for the debts of the corporation to the administration has the right to
recover what he has paid from the corporation. Keep in mind that this
is a form of business in which the investor must make profits on what
he has invested.
The distinction in having a lien over the assets
of a corporation to that of an individual is found in the incidence of
liquidation. It is normal that any creditor will seek legal redress to
have his money. But the principal debt plus any other thing added to it
that has to be gotten from pursuing a corporation that is in debts is
not something that will be easy.
However, it should be noted that
if you have legal authority over the assets of a distressed
corporation, and if the corporation is getting into liquidation, what
is owed to you is secure. But you must know that you will be faced with
so many other claimants seeking redress against the corporation.
Remember this is very possible because a corporation is more likely to
deal with so many people than an individual.
The Advantages of Insolvency
Most
insolvency proceedings will restrict the obligations of an ailing
corporation to pay interest. It should be noted that in a Supreme Court
hearing, it was decided that an owner of a non-consensual claim that is
more than protected like a tax lien will be entitled to interests, but
will not be entitled to other charges except there is an accord that
these should be paid. This will apply equally to federal lien holders.
But Congress has decided that a holder of a state lien must be entitled
to interest as well as any justifiable fees and charges provided that
these are greater than the claim.
One further difficulty to the
lien holder is that in some cases, the corporation may invoke the law
relating to the limitation period to bring an action against it. If
this is successful, the claimant will be stopped or prevented from
bringing an action against the corporation, but this will also depend
on the facts presented before the courts. If the asset over which there
is a lien is lesser than the value of claim, the claimant is found to
have been under protected and will forfeit any interest on the claim.
If
you own a lien over a corporation, take note that you will be faced
with competing interests either from different claimants or even from
the law itself even if your claim has a right of way over those of
others. This is a hazard which you must be prepared to deal with if
what you stand to benefit is of great value.
UK Output, Income and Expenditure Statistical Bulletin - Q1 2009 (Pdf)
