Going under fast...

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-08-2003
Going under fast...
2
Tue, 03-07-2006 - 12:16pm

I don't know where to begin...

My husband and his partner are going through an ugly seperation. They own a homebuilding business and the partner decided in December that he wanted to part ways. Fine. Everyone would stop taking pay at the end of the year as well as company benefits and we would just run things until the final jobs ended.

Well...partner continued to take pay at 150% as well as benefits. He claimed he was entitled to this since he put more start-up money into the company. We want to see that he gets everything that is entitled to him...however, the subcontractors, suppliers and other company expenses should be paid first. We tried to bring this up to him several times, but he then just presented us with a paper that said he would continue until we put x number of dollars into the company account. NEITHER MY HUSBAND OR I HAVE RECEIVED AN INCOME SINCE DECEMBER 31ST. He knew we couldn't do this...so he just kept on taking his draws. In addition, he didn't pay the bills for the jobs my husband signed...only his own. He is able to do this as the access to the company funds is located at his home.

Meanwhile...we're being sued by at least one...soon to be two subcontractors he refused to pay. One even threatened a homeowner! He also retained a lawyer against us and used company funds to do so!

Now on the personal side. I have juggled everything I possibly can. This week we are starting to fall behind. We have started our own company but failed to sign any jobs yet. This is the worst possible time of year to do so.

I hate to even say the "B" word...but I can hardly breath. We have gotten a lawyer...but that's going to cost even more money. I've squeezed everything that I can and don't know what to do. We've gotten some help from family but that's just a short term solution. We refuse to rely on that for long.

I guess I just need a pep talk. Every morning I get up telling myself "Today will be better!" and it just gets worse. Homeowners are angry, subs are angry, suppliers are angry and we're left holding the bag! At the advice of our lawyer we opened a seperate checking account and began depositing money in there and paying our bills from it. My husband has taken personal control of his jobs and is finishing them on his own. Did I mention that he had to take control from his partner's SIL who was hired to do the work?

There's actually too much JUNK going on to actually print here!

Sorry for the rant...I had to yell somewhere and my husband and I are tired of yelling at each other.

I do feel incredibly thankful for my family, friends and health. There are others much worse off.

Thanks for listening...samey.

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-06-2005
Tue, 03-07-2006 - 12:27pm

HUGS!

 

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iVillage Member
Registered: 12-05-2004
Tue, 03-07-2006 - 12:52pm

Samey,

You're welcome to rant here anytime you need to, ok? We're here to listen and support. :-D It definitely sounds like you're going through a rough spot right now, but getting a lawyer was the best thing you could do. His advice regarding opening the separate account was good. I wonder if he could have a judge file an injunction to stop your Dh's former partner from depleting the funds. Maybe state in the injunction that all funds this man has removed will have to be repaid? That might stop him from making frequent withdrawls. I'm not sure of all the legalities, but I'm sure your lawyer will know and will be a great asset to you. You may even be able to have the Partner pay all your legal costs in any settlement you might receive. If not for his seemingly dishonest ways, the legal fight wouldn't have been neccessary. Therefore, you might be able to make him pay for your costs. Again, your lawyer would know.

Do you have any kind of stress-relieving activity that you like to do when you cannot find the time to get on this board? Maybe taking a walk or taking a nice drive somewhere? Take advantage of any time you get to just breathe and rest a bit.

Hugs,
Pat