Pros And Cons Of Bankruptcy

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With the economy going today some, if not many, businesses are going under, being liquidated, or going out of business. But how do big or small business end their enterprises? Or even allocate any resources they have to repay any debt? What procedures does a company go through to let their lenders know they have no income or sales/revenue to pay off the bills? Questions like this spark my interest to get a better understanding of how do businesses like Ashley Furniture or General Motors (GM) use their assets to attempt to pay off their creditors and any other liabilities. But what does bankruptcy mean in the business world? What are some of the paths of bankruptcy? What are the pros and cons of being bankrupt? Bankruptcy is where an individual or in this case a corporation claims that is not able to pay its lenders and/or creditors any more. By doing this the filer gains protection from its lenders while reorganizing itself to stay in business. Bankruptcy is defined by the Congress under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, in which the Congress revised in 2005 called Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act (BAPCPA). This act addresses the increased number of bankruptcy filing, loopholes and incentives that allowed for abuse and the financial ability of debtors. The Bankruptcy Code can be found under Title 11 of the United States Code (U.S.C.); this code is then divided into chapters 1, 3, and 5 which provide provisions concerning bankruptcy case and debtors. These chapters are then applied to six specific types of bankruptcy relief classified as Chapters 7, 9, 11, 12, 13, and 15. For businesses companies they mainly file for Chapters 7, 11, 12, and 13. Even though bankruptcy is a federal law, state laws can apply its own ba... ... middle of paper ... ...payment plan is created and approved, usually by the creditors and the court. Due to the Bankruptcy code treats creditors differentially and makes the debtor not make payments to just one creditor. So how do businesses like Ashley Furniture or General Motors (GM) use their assets to attempt to pay off their creditors and any other liabilities? Companies like these first have to file for a voluntary petition of bankruptcy through Chapter 7 otherwise known as liquidation. In this process the debtor is appointed a trustee who allocates his/her assets and equally distributes it to the creditors. Reorganiza-tions also known as Chapter 11 each company or organization must first file for bankruptcy. Failure to properly file for bankruptcy a creditor can potentially force a debtor into an involuntary bankruptcy if repayment of certain debts is not made in a timely manner.

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