We work with lot of clients here at Rush that need information about a particular business. Maybe they need an address for service however the business no longer exists, or possibly they are looking for assets, or have a judgment that needs to be enforced. Whatever the case, there are challenges involved when dealing with a business that is bending the laws to its advantage, or maybe just breaking them all together.
One very common thing we see is a person or persons with multiple LLCs or Corps with very similar names. These are often made all at once. For Instance, ABC Holdings, will also have corps or LLCS called "A.B.C. Holdings", "ABC Holdings LLC" ,"ABC Holding" and so on. This allows the company to divide up certain risky business practices under separate companies with most people unaware. Even the bank would probably accept payments from all these companies under one account, the names are so close. When one of these companies gets into legal trouble, they simply walk away and continue business as usual, using the other very similar names.
Another common problem we run into is a client who wants to serve a business that has gone out of business, possibly because of the very case you may be trying to serve them for. When the physical location is vacant, finding the Agent for service can be tricky. We often will track down the owner, or registered agent at a different address, and have them served directly.
Most Business owners will comingle company funds with their own personal accounts to some degree, however some will go to extremes to hide assets. This can be difficult to prove in a lot of cases. The key is to find out who has possession or ownership of said assets, and then go back and request the records of the sale. Often times owners will transfer assets to family or other LLCs to protect them from judgments. You can also try to determine if the owners deposit company money directly into a personal account, if so you may be able to "pierce the corporate veil" as it is called and void the protections of assets. With a judgment, and as much information in hand as possible, a debtor exam is the best place to get all this sorted out.
If your having problems with businesses hiding from you, send us an email, and we will do our best to guide you in the right direction.
info@rushintel.com
Rush Intel Services
www.rushintel.com