Business Debt, Explained Like You're the One Who Has It.

Only the debts you personally guaranteed. Business credit cards, SBA loans, MCAs, and most small-business term loans require a personal guarantee — those appear on your personal credit if they go delinquent. True non-recourse debt (some commercial real estate loans, some equipment leases held by the entity) does not. The personal guarantee guide walks through which products typically require one.

Yes, and for most credit card and bank debt under $250K the DIY result is usually within 5–15 percentage points of what a professional negotiator delivers. The negotiation guide has the actual scripts. Professional negotiators add the most value for stacked MCA debt and for situations where the math is complicated by personal-guarantee or tax-debt overlay. Before paying a negotiation firm, read the settlement page and the 1099-C guide — settled debt is usually taxable income, which changes the comparison.

No, and it is usually not the first option. Most owners with under $1M in business debt and ongoing revenue have viable alternatives: refinancing if credit is intact, debt settlement if the lender will discount, restructuring if the lender will modify. Bankruptcy becomes the path when (1) personal guarantees expose the owner to debt the business cannot service, (2) a confession of judgment or imminent lawsuit needs the automatic stay, (3) tax debt and trade debt have compounded past workout range, or (4) the business is no longer viable and the owner needs the discharge. Business vs. Personal Bankruptcy walks through the decision.

Refinancing: 30–60 days for a clean file; longer if there are stale UCC filings to clear. Workout / restructuring: 60–120 days. Settlement (DIY): 3–9 months from first call to executed release. Subchapter V (small-business Chapter 11): ~90 days to plan confirmation. Traditional Chapter 11: 12–18 months. Chapter 7: 3–6 months to discharge. SBA Offer in Compromise: 6–12 months after the loan reaches the SBA.

No — closure does not release a personal guarantee, but it does change the math in your favor for several relief paths. The SBA's Offer in Compromise program is most often used by closed-business borrowers, because the SBA's recovery analysis is then limited to what it can collect from the guarantor personally. Personal Chapter 7 can discharge most guaranteed business debt regardless of business status. See SBA default and the personal guarantee for the closed-business OIC path.

This is one of the fastest-moving situations in business debt. Restraining notices on bank accounts typically arrive within hours. Read the confessions of judgment guide — it covers the 2019 New York reform, the personal-jurisdiction defense for out-of-state filings, the reclassification / usury defense, and the role of the bankruptcy automatic stay in halting enforcement.