Stop the presses- the porn industry is suffering. The Los Angeles Times is reporting that the porn icon “Girls Gone Wild” (“GGW”) is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in order to protect its assets against one of its bigest creditors: Steve Wynn– the casino mogul Most of the biggest hotels around Vegas and around the world are owned and controlled by Wynn. Somehow, over the last few years, GGW founder Joe Francis has incurred over $30 million in debt to Wynn. According to the times, Wynn will continue to go after Francis because their judgments are against him- not his business. “Our judgments are not against Joe Francis’ companies, but rather against Mr. Francis personally,” Michael Weaver, Wynn Las Vegas’ senior vice president of marketing, said in a statement. “Consequently, these recent bankruptcy filings by the GGW companies will not slow our efforts to collect on our judgments against Mr. Francis.”
The Personal Guarantee
This problem is not uncommon, though for most people its in reverse. Every week I have a small-business owner come into my office because their business creditors are surrounding them like vultures. As most of you probably know, most small business loans or lines of credit often come with the catch all provision: the personal guarantee. If you have personally guaranteed your business loans- then a “business bankruptcy” won’t help you. If your business has no assets and has become insolvent- a personal bankruptcy may be what you need to get a fresh start. If your personal obligations to your business debt exceeds your ‘consumer debt‘ then you may be exempt from the Means Test- meaning that you can qualify for a Chapter 7, no matter how high your income may be.
If you are you burdened by personal obligations to business debt- then call today to see if bankruptcy is right for you. We have extensive experience in helping small business owners get back on their feet again.
