How can I see if someone is telling the truth about filing for bankruptcy?

[christos]

I worked for someone who owes me money as well as a refund for a deposit on a theatre rental. He owes a lot of people for payment on a show we did. He has a lot of personal debt as well, and he has claimed to have filed for bankruptcy. I guess bankruptcy laws say you can no longer try and get that money back. He says to issue all notices to a trustee and when I asked to meet with them he say I would have to fly to New York (we live in California) to do that because that’s where they are. I asked for their address to send a demand for payment letter and he said it was private and to send it to him. I don’t believe him but I also don’t want to take the chance and it turns out to be true. I heard I could be sued for trying to retrieve money from someone who has filed. How can I see if he is telling the truth and can he be in trouble with the law if he was lying about it?

[oakley]

I worked for someone who owes me money as well as a refund for a deposit on a theatre rental. He owes a lot of people for payment on a show we did. He has a lot of personal debt as well, and he has claimed to have filed for bankruptcy. I guess bankruptcy laws say you can no longer try and get that money back. He says to issue all notices to a trustee and when I asked to meet with them he say I would have to fly to New York (we live in California) to do that because that’s where they are. I asked for their address to send a demand for payment letter and he said it was private and to send it to him. I don’t believe him but I also don’t want to take the chance and it turns out to be true. I heard I could be sued for trying to retrieve money from someone who has filed. How can I see if he is telling the truth and can he be in trouble with the law if he was lying about it?

Ask him which bankruptcy court the case is filed in or the name of the bankruptcy trustee. Then call the bankruptcy court and find out if he filed.

If he filed, then all payment requests must be filed as a claim against him in the bankruptcy court. As for the demand for payment, you need to figure out if he is filing for personal bankruptcy or corporate bankruptcy and go from there. Your best bet is to find the trustee and call them.