Accepting the Settlement… On Our Terms
A great success this week came during the negotiations with a banks lawyer regarding the settlement offer for my clients offer in compromise on his SBA loan. After completely analyzing my client’s financial condition, it quickly became apartment that it would be difficult to offer the SBA anything at all to settle. He has a negative net worth in the tens of thousands, falls short of his monthly expenses by thousands of dollars, and is financially supported by his son.
Several weeks ago I presented the bank with a very aggressive settlement offer. I presented my clients financials, and expected the bank to realize that although the offer was small, it was all that my client would ever be able to afford.
Unfortunately, the banks lawyer told me that they had a hard stance on not passing any offer through to the SBA that was under 30%. Instead of giving up, I called the lawyer and asked him where they expected to get that kind of settlement offer. We went back and forth for some time, but finally he came to the realization that it would be better for him to accept a small offer, than legally pursue my client for something he does not have.
Although we did not come to a final settlement this week, I plan on wrapping this up next week with an offer that my client can actually afford. Once again, logic and common sense prevails and leads to success!
