After reading my last article, you might wonder: what about the money owed for goods you sold more than 20 days before the bankruptcy filing? There still may be hope.
First, ask yourself:
• Did the customer receive the goods within 45 days before the bankruptcy? And,
• Did you sell the goods in the ordinary course of your business?
If you answer “yes” to these questions, you should make a written demand for “reclamation” (literally, you are demanding that the goods be returned). If you make this demand soon enough, and if another creditor does not already have a security interest in the goods, you may be entitled to payment for the goods before other, “unsecured” creditors receive anything.
Here is a possible scenario:
On each of June 1, June 21, July 1, and July 11, you sell, on credit, a box of parts to a manufacturer. Each box is worth $10,000. On July 21, you are owed $40,000, and the manufacturer files for bankruptcy.
Provided that you meet the necessary deadlines and substantiate the claim, you may seek payment of $20,000 (the value of the goods sold within 20 days before the bankruptcy filing) ahead of other, “unsecured” creditors.
You may make written demand for “reclamation” of the goods sold within 45 days before the bankruptcy filing, which consists of goods worth $30,000 (but if you recover $20,000 based on the above, this demand cannot recover more than the remaining $10,000).
And, what about the money owed for the goods you sold on June 1st? Unfortunately, you might have to wait with the rest of the “unsecured” creditors for this money. Actually, you could do better than that, but that is a topic for another article….
Doug Goldstein, Attorney at Law 