Sheriff's Letter for Company Debt

weshtawake

My brother in law is scared witless and has asked me for advice. He has just received a letter from the Sheriff addressed to a company with which he had an involvement but c/o his home address.
He had ceased having any involvement with the company about 3 years ago and it was wound up last year. The letter states that they "will proceed to levy the said amount.... unless payment is received within 4 days".
Firstly, if it is the debt of a Limited Liability company how/why are they coming after him or is it because his is the only address they have??
Secondly, whilst there may well be some company assets they are certainly not located at his premises.
What would you suggest I advise him to do??

Thanx

JigglyMcJabs

Was his home address the registered office of the company? When you say he had involvement, does this mean he is/was a director?

You say the company was wound up, does this mean it was properly liquidated or was it left to be struck off by the CRO?

Is this the county sheriff or a revenue sheriff?

I would suggest that you look up the company with the CRO online and on courts.ie to see what judgments/fillings there have been recently.

Most importantly, sheriffs are not to be messed with or avoided, they have very significant powers. He needs to contact the sheriff immediately or else there will be a knock on the door, or even a forceable entry.

Contact an insolvency accountant of solicitor with experience in company law as soon as you can.

QuinDixie

weshtawake wrote: »

My brother in law is scared witless and has asked me for advice. He has just received a letter from the Sheriff addressed to a company with which he had an involvement but c/o his home address.
He had ceased having any involvement with the company about 3 years ago and it was wound up last year. The letter states that they "will proceed to levy the said amount.... unless payment is received within 4 days".
Firstly, if it is the debt of a Limited Liability company how/why are they coming after him or is it because his is the only address they have??
Secondly, whilst there may well be some company assets they are certainly not located at his premises.
What would you suggest I advise him to do??

Thanx

limited liability means shareholders can be held responsible for debts of a company but only to the nominal value of their shares.
Best advice is to get legal advice.

CIARAN_BOYLE

weshtawake wrote: »

My brother in law is scared witless and has asked me for advice. He has just received a letter from the Sheriff addressed to a company with which he had an involvement but c/o his home address.
He had ceased having any involvement with the company about 3 years ago and it was wound up last year. The letter states that they "will proceed to levy the said amount.... unless payment is received within 4 days".
Firstly, if it is the debt of a Limited Liability company how/why are they coming after him or is it because his is the only address they have??
Secondly, whilst there may well be some company assets they are certainly not located at his premises.
What would you suggest I advise him to do??

Thanx

Was your brother in law a director? Can the company be deemed to have traded recklessly? If so directors are liable to extent of the debts of the company.

weshtawake

Was his home address the registered office of the company? When you say he had involvement, does this mean he is/was a director?

You say the company was wound up, does this mean it was properly liquidated or was it left to be struck off by the CRO?

Is this the county sheriff or a revenue sheriff?

Firstly, thanks for the reply.
The registered office was the company premises located about 25 odd miles from his home.
Yes, he was a director.
The company is listed as "Dissolved 30 September 2014"
Looks to be county sheriff - it was issued from the Courthouse.

Should he write/meet with the Sheriff or try to do a deal with the creditor??

Thabnks

JigglyMcJabs

weshtawake wrote: »

Was his home address the registered office of the company? When you say he had involvement, does this mean he is/was a director?

You say the company was wound up, does this mean it was properly liquidated or was it left to be struck off by the CRO?

Is this the county sheriff or a revenue sheriff?

Firstly, thanks for the reply.
The registered office was the company premises located about 25 odd miles from his home.
Yes, he was a director.
The company is listed as "Dissolved 30 September 2014"
Looks to be county sheriff - it was issued from the Courthouse.

Should he write/meet with the Sheriff or try to do a deal with the creditor??

Thabnks

He should deal with the sheriff and only the sheriff. It looks like the company wasn't properly liquidated which complicates matters as far as limited liability is concerned.

For right now, your brother needs professional advise on how to protect himself legally as the creditor might be able to pursue him personally.

Tell the sheriff that the company is dissolved over the phone and that your brother has no company assets in his possession(if that's the truth) then take it from there.

As things stand, without further legal action, the debt is with the company and not your brother, again though, don't take my word for it, see a solicitor/insolvency accountant