<p>Nicole Astra: Hello, and thank you for joining Talking Cities, Aurora. I'm your host, Nicole Astra. The pandemic has generated an unprecedented amount of financial instability for millions of business owners that has left many with the difficult decision to file for bankruptcy, but there is still hope on the other side. Joining me today is bankruptcy attorney and CPA Eric Zelazny. Eric, thank you so much for joining us.<br /><br />Eric Zelazny: It's my pleasure to be here.<br /><br />Nicole Astra: Filing for bankruptcy is generally a decision that no one wants to make, but you say there are some benefits to filing. Tell me about that.<br /><br />Eric Zelazny: Well, the first benefit for most clients I see would be financial. Instead of putting time and effort and money into a business that ultimately isn't succeeding, you can move on, put that debt behind you and do something more productive and turn your financial life around instead of losing money, make money and have no debt. That's a much better combination than not making money and having a lot of debt. So that's number one.<br /><br />Eric Zelazny: Number two, is simply peace of mind. I have so many clients that are being sued, have all these creditors, all these debts. Debts they simply can't pay. Its simple math. There just isn't enough cash flow, not enough income. But they don't sleep well at night. They're having marital problems. They're just stressed out all the time. And by filing bankruptcy, bankruptcy's very powerful. Its federal law, not state and it's Trump state law. And it delivers a very powerful, legal injunction to creditors. So they have to stop pursuing you. Those lawsuits have to stop and they have to deal with me and only me, if the client hires me. So peace of mind's another one. And number three is just moving on, closure. Put this chapter of your life behind you. Put this debt behind you, rebuild your credit, which I help clients do much more quickly than you would imagine and move on with your life.<br /><br />Nicole Astra: Is it a misconception that once you file for bankruptcy, that's it for your business career? Can you open another business after you've filed for bankruptcy?<br /><br />Eric Zelazny: Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. In fact, I work with a team of fellow attorneys and we can have a new business up and running with a new EIN and new corporation in as little as 72 hours. Now you have to do it the right way and you have to have a good attorney guiding you. And it's shocking how many people open new businesses. They don't do it the right way. But if you sit down and you listen to me, we can start a new business in a matter of days or weeks. So no, it's not the end of your business career. And secondly, on a personal level, I have clients that I represented that filed bankruptcy. Their credit score was in the high 600s a year after bankruptcy.<br /><br />Nicole Astra: Wow.<br /><br />Eric Zelazny: Some even in the low 700s. And I also help my clients with that to build their credit after the bankruptcy's done. The worst thing to do after bankruptcy is nothing. So you have to aggressively rebuild your credit. And I don't even charge extra for that. I sit down with my clients and I tell them you give me a half hour of your time and you actually listen to me, your credit will be surprisingly high a year after bankruptcy. And within two years, you are at 700 and that's what creditors care about. They don't care whether you filed bankruptcy. They care, what is your current income? What is your current credit score? That's what's important these days.<br /><br />Nicole Astra: Are there ways to keep the business open while going through the bankruptcy process?<br /><br />Eric Zelazny: Yes, there are. One is to file a chapter 11. It's a reorganization. It means the business still stays conducting business the whole time. Another way is to deal with creditors, particularly secured creditors and work on a plan with them to keep them off your back and still remain in business. So yes, you can definitely still stay in business. Although sometimes that's not your best option. The best option may be just liquidating that business and starting a new one, which is not nearly as difficult as one would imagine.</p>