Actual Settlements

 

Since 1990, Wininger, Douglas & Green has assisted in debt restructuring and debt settlements for a wide variety of businesses, including wholesalers, retailers, manufacturers, distributors, construction firms and service-oriented companies. We have vast experience with debt restructuring and success in negotiating with credit managers, collection agents and attorneys.

The following are actual debt restructuring and debt settlements we arranged for our clients. We have removed our clients’ names to preserve their privacy.

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A general contractor had about $80,000.00 in outstanding payables and also owed $60,000.00 in back federal and state taxes. The contractor was sued by a supplier for $18,588.00. The creditor’s attorney obtained a judgment. Wininger, Douglas & Green initiated negotiations and secured a settlement of $6,692.00, payable in two payments, as full settlement of the judgment and without attorney’s fees, interest or court costs. The contractor saved $11,896.00.

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A mid-size commercial mailing service was deeply in debt and facing potential bankruptcy due to a major customer going out of business owing $950,000.00. The mailing service owed Federal Express over $167,000.00. Before a lawsuit was filed, Wininger, Douglas & Green negotiated a settlement directly with FedEx and they agreed to accept $23,000.00 as full settlement (less than 14% of the total debt), thus saving our client $144,000.00.

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A large plumbing company had $1,200,000.00 in debts due to major customers going out of business. The plumbing company owed a supplier $14,323.00. The supplier’s attorney demanded immediate payment in full or he would file a lawsuit. Wininger, Douglas & Green intervened and negotiated a settlement of $4,072.00 payable in two payments (30 days apart) resulting in a savings of $10,251.00 and preventing a lawsuit.

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A small graphics imprinting company had $125,000.00 more in payables than receivables. A supplier was owed $34,576.00. Wininger, Douglas & Green negotiated with the supplier’s accounts receivable manager and settled the case for $5,809.00 (less than 17% of the debt), saving our client $28,767.00.

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A retail men’s wear store had $148,000.00 in outstanding payables as a result of an extended period of slow sales. They owed Warnaco, Inc. $7,655.00 and were being harassed by a collection agency. Wininger, Douglas & Green intervened, and within one day of submitting a settlement offer, the creditor accepted a settlement of $1,121.00 (less than 18% of the debt) as payment-in-full.

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An office equipment distributor and exporter got behind in paying its bills because of numerous uncollected receivables. They owed Hewlett-Packard $6,768.00. Wininger, Douglas & Green negotiated directly with the creditor and secured a settlement of $1,827.00 payable in two payments, thirty days apart.

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A metal fabricator moved into a new location and disputed a $2,902.00 bill from North American Van Lines. The creditor claimed that extra work had been done regarding the move and the metal fabricator claimed that damage was done to some equipment. Wininger, Douglas & Green negotiated with the attorney for the creditor, and settled the matter for $1,076.00, to the satisfaction of all parties.

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A technical training school facing possible bankruptcy owed $16,545.00 to the New York Times for advertising. The attorney for the Times filed a lawsuit. Wininger, Douglas & Green quickly negotiated an out-of-court settlement for $6,100.00 thereby saving $10,445.00 as well as eliminating all attorney fees, interest and court costs.

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A mid-size household goods distributor’s sales declined by 60% and they were deeply in debt. A collection agency was trying to collect on a $6,790.00 debt owed to CitiCapital for an equipment lease. Wininger, Douglas & Green negotiated with the collection agency resulting in CitiCapital accepting $1,473.00 (less than 22%) as full settlement.

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A florist owed a floral distributor $6,405.00. The distributor hired a top collection attorney in New York City to collect the debt. Wininger, Douglas & Green settled the debt for $2,520.00 payable in three monthly payments.

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An aerospace manufacturing company was being sued for $28,816.00 by their health insurance provider. Within one week Wininger, Douglas & Green secured an out-of-court settlement for $6,278.00 leaving a savings of $22,538.00. In addition, all attorney’s fees, interest on the debt and court costs were forgiven.

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A software consulting company lost its best customer. As a result they accumulated over $200,000.00 in delinquent unpaid bills and owed three month’s back rent. The company’s survival was in doubt. They owed $29,944.00 to an equipment financing company. Wininger, Douglas & Green negotiated directly with the company and reached a settlement agreeable to all parties for $3,983.00 (less than 14% of the original debt), thereby saving our client $25,961.00.

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An excavating contractor owed $10,044.00 to One Beacon Insurance for liability coverage. The contractor offered a settlement of $4,200.00 to One Beacon’s collection agency, Dun & Bradstreet. One Beacon refused to settle and their attorney filed suit for the full amount plus interest and costs. Wininger, Douglas & Green negotiated an out-of-court settlement for $3,974.00 (less than what was previously rejected by the creditor). The contractor saved $6,070.00 and all attorney’s fees, interest and costs were waived.

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A start-up sports equipment company had a judgment against them for $2,992.00. The City Marshal was trying to seize assets to satisfy the judgment. Wininger, Douglas & Green intervened and settled the debt for $688.00 (payable in two payments), saving the client $2,304.00, thus satisfying the judgment and preventing the seizure of banks accounts and a public auction of merchandise and fixtures.

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A retail jeweler was being sued by Seiko for $5,012.00. Wininger, Douglas & Green negotiated with the attorney for Seiko and within five days achieved a settlement of $1,220.00 resulting in a $3,792.00 savings.

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A new MRI facility was grossly undercapitalized and owed $500,000.00 to creditors. They were sued by Hitachi for $39,691.00 for an unpaid service contract on the MRI equipment. Wininger, Douglas & Green negotiated with Hitachi’s attorney and secured an out-of-court settlement of $12,463.00 payable in four monthly payments, without interest, attorney fees or court costs, thereby saving the client $27,228.00.

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A scientific lab equipment exporter had accumulated $50,000.00 in debt due to a long period of unfavorable dollar exchange rates. A creditor reported the non-payment of the $3,630.00 debt to the State Consumer Protection Board. Within forty-eight hours, Wininger, Douglas & Green settled the account for $585.00, saving our client $3,045.00 and preventing further action by the state agency.

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An iron works company’s sales declined 50% in a year and their unpaid bills totaled about $150,000.00. The company owed $13,202.00 to their insurance company resulting from a liability insurance audit. Although the iron works company disputed the audit, the insurance company hired a collection lawyer to collect the full amount. Wininger, Douglas & Green reduced the claim to $5,017.00 payable in two payments, saving $8,185.00 and helping the client avoid hiring an attorney and going to court.

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A computer consulting company owed about $200,000.00 in delinquent payables to both secured and unsecured creditors. A software company was owed $23,124.00, and before a lawsuit was filed, Wininger, Douglas & Green settled the claim for $3,725.00, resulting in a savings of $19,399.00 for our client.

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A bakery equipment company owed creditors about $98,000.00 due to stiff foreign competition. They owed a vendor $7,000.00. Wininger, Douglas & Green negotiated with the creditor’s attorney and finalized a settlement of $2,520.00 which prevented filing of a lawsuit and all associated costs.

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A fence manufacturer’s sales declined about 40% due to cut-rate competition and as a result owed about $50,000.00 to creditors plus back taxes and back rent. Bell Atlantic Yellow Pages (now Verizon) had a judgment for $14,369.00 for non-payment of advertising. The city marshal was attempting to confiscate the manufacturer’s assets to satisfy the debt. Wininger, Douglas & Green arranged a settlement of $3,000.00 to be paid over eight months as settlement-in-full, thus saving $11,369.00 and allowing the fence manufacturer to remain in business.

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A towing company had a dispute over an audit with their worker’s compensation insurance carrier, Providence Washington Insurance. The insurance company’s attorney filed a lawsuit claiming that $3,320.00 was owed. Wininger, Douglas & Green settled the account in ten days for $910.00. The towing company saved $2,410.00 and avoided attorney’s fees, interest and court costs.

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A concrete company had $250,000.00 more in payables than receivables and had a $38,170.00 judgment against them from Liberty Mutual Insurance for non-payment of auto insurance premiums. Wininger, Douglas & Green settled the claim in six days for $10,993.00, saving the concrete company $27,177.00 and avoiding interest, attorneys’ fees and court costs.

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A mortgage broker owed Infinity Broadcasting Corp. $7,109.00 for radio advertising. The mortgage broker disputed the number of ads that ran and the amount owed. The creditor sued, and within eight days, Wininger, Douglas & Green settled the claim for $1,638.00.

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A mid-size general contractor disputed the quality of work performed by an electrical subcontractor. The subcontractor sued for $12,824.00. Wininger, Douglas & Green settled the claim with the subcontractor’s attorney for $5,000.00, thereby saving $7,824.00, and preventing a judgment, and avoiding interest, fees and court costs.

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A finance company disputed a $10,839.00 bill claimed by AT & T. AT & T sued, and Wininger, Douglas & Green negotiated an out-of-court settlement for $4,527.00.

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A photography studio lost 50% of its sales in a year and closed three of its five locations. A landlord’s in-house attorney sued both the studio and its owner (who personally guaranteed the lease) for $12,818.00 for back rent. Wininger, Douglas & Green negotiated with the landlord and obtained a settlement for the business and its owner for $3,000.00 as settlement-in-full.

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An HVAC sole proprietorship owed $39,000.00 to creditors and had receivables of only $1,000.00. A supplier sued for $3,138.00 and Wininger, Douglas & Green intervened on the owner’s behalf and settled the debt for $698.00, thereby avoiding a judgment being entered against the owner and his business and saving the client $2,440.00.

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An auto repair shop’s sales declined 60% in a year resulting in $70,000.00 owed to trade creditors and $30,000.00 in back sales taxes. Its largest creditor, Snap-On Credit, sued the repair shop and its owner (who personally guaranteed the debt) to collect $48,522.00. Wininger, Douglas & Green settled the account in nine days for $11,015.00 payable in three, monthly installments resulting in a savings of $37,507.00. The repair shop and its owner avoided a judgment and the UCC lien on the equipment was released.

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