LLCs or Limited Liability Corporations are legal business entities that offer limited liability ownership to its members, meaning that the owners or members are not personally responsible for the debts that the business incurs. At least in theory that’s the case. An LLC that finds itself in a situation where it is not being profitable and debts are running high, can also find relief in filing bankruptcy. However, it is often common that when LLCs are first formed, the owners don’t realize that they may have made themselves liable for the debts of the business by making personal guarantees for the debt that funded the company.

Normally lenders will use the Tax Identification Number of the LLC to extend credit. LLCs are not always profitable, especially when they’re first starting out, and in order for a lender to accept applications and begin processing the requested credit the business either needs to be profitable for the lender to proceed without any additional guarantees, of course these policies will vary by lender. When that criteria is different, normally the lender will still proceed with approval if the owners of the LLC are willing to make personal guarantees for the loans or credit lines. Often this is not explained in great detail or is in small print on the paperwork you sign.

Should this be the case with you, and you see your business taking a turn for the worse, you need to consider this option carefully before you continue with declaring bankruptcy for your LLC. This is something that’s often overlooked during the formation of such business entities. Again lenders don’t always emphasize this point because as long as they have good backing for their money, they don’t care who’s on the hook. So if your LLC files for bankruptcy this will likely extend to you, meaning you may also have to file bankruptcy, otherwise since the liability falls on you, you’ll have to repay the debts yourself.

Be 100% certain that you’re not personally liable for the debt before you proceed, review the paperwork you signed when your loans or credit lines were processed and see if your social security number appears anywhere on the application or approved paperwork.

Only when you find out the structure of the loans or credit on your business, you can begin addressing the problem with a new perspective. If your business debt has a personal guarantee then you should consult a bankruptcy attorney for a better approach to the problem. Your attorney will be able to study the paperwork more efficiently. In a case like this you would not want to prepare and file you’re own bankruptcy petition, you will run into too many obstacles and doubts and may end up filing the wrong paperwork or submitting the wrong information, which again only you will be responsible for.

At the very least consult with a bankruptcy attorney if you feel your LLC is in trouble and you need to get the debt sorted out. Your best option in this situation would be to file bankruptcy chapter 11, you can repay the debts of your business under more manageable terms while your bringing your business back to a profitable state.

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