In continuation to the post on Friday.
If you have outstanding medical bills that might be forcing you towards bankruptcy, contact the collection companies and the medical facilities. Providers (who are more sympathetic than collectors) will often reduce the bill if you are willing to make a lump sum payment to them. The payment is usually significantly lower than the actual bill. If that is not a viable option; ask to make small payments; without interest. Remember they too, want your money. Anything is better than nothing for them.
If a small business owner is having financial trouble personally, it will be very difficult to receive a Small Business Administration government-guaranteed loan. Not impossible, just very difficult. You can improve your chances of obtaining a loan by working to fix the problems that are plaguing your personal credit before you apply for an SBA loan. If you know that bankruptcy is in your future, obtain your SBA loan first and then file for bankruptcy. It is not wise to mislead anyone in the process, but don’t offer up information that a possible bankruptcy might be in your future. Declaring bankruptcy after you receive your loan does not make you automatically in default on the business loan. Make certain you continue to always make your loan payments on time. As long as the payments are good and you have not breached any part of your contract, you will not have trouble with the SBA or your lender.
