Can a bankrupt company demand I pay money back to them?

If Company A is a corporation or a limited liability company (LLC) and the corp. or LLC was in good standing at the time it contracted with Company B, performed the services for Company B, was paid by Company C and you did sign any agreements in you personal capacity, then you should not be personally responsible to pay Company B as a result of the preferential transfer. If your company had been dissolved by the state of Nevada, you may be personally responsible depending upon when the company was dissolved and Nevada laws on that issue. If your company was operated as a sole proprietorship, then you are personally responsible. Your obligation, if any, is likely a dischargeable debt and you have the right to file a bankruptcy also. There are a number of defenses to preference litigation. You need assistance from an experienced bankruptcy attorney that handles the business bankruptcies, probably best to retain a creditor's bankruptcy attorney, although preference litigation is an issue in which attorney's handle both sides fairly often. I am representing a chapter 7 trustee right now in multiple preference cases and many times I have represented the company that is being sued by the trustee or the chapter 11 debtor. You can use the "Find a Lawyer" link at the top of this page to search for an attorney.

Unfortunately, because your Company A was paid during the 90 day look back period, it can be required to pay back the money to company B, because you became a "preferred creditor" which is not permitted. You should contact the Trustee to work out a repayment plan or a reduced settlement amount to pay back. Whether you are personally responsible for the repayment will depend on your company structure of Company A.

The bankruptcy estate of Company B, can come after Company A to recover the monies paid to it. As to whether you are going to be held personally liable to pay the money back is a question the answer to which requires more facts. You should sit down with a bankruptcy attorney for a consultation, where the attorney can ask the questions, the answers to which will give him/her the information to advise you properly.

Of course, the debtor (or a trustee if one has been appointed) can make a demand. However, you might successfully resist that demand if you have any of the applicable defenses. The most common types of defenses in your circumstance (which, without further information, seems to be a preference action) are: (1) the debtor was solvent at the time of the transfer; (2) the transfer was in the ordinary course of business; (3) the transfer was part of a "contemporaneous exchange"; and (4) the transfer was one of a series of transfers in which you might have given "new value" to the debtor after the transfer at issue. These all would require competent legal counsel to perform a in-depth. So if the demand amount is only a few thousand, then the retention of an experienced attorney may be prohibitive. Concerning your company no longer operating and no longer having assets, if the company was a sole proprietorship, then you will not be protected from the demand merely on the grounds of non-operation and no-assets. If the company was an LLC or a corporation, then several factors (which have been adequately described in some of the other responses) have to be analyzed. Depending on the amount of money involved, the debtor (or trustee) might be satisfied with a response from you that the company is no longer operating and has no assets.

I agree with the other attorneys. Assessing your personal liability is the place to start. If you are personally liable, then the question is whether the cost of counsel is proportionate to your liability. If the trustee is asking for $400 dollars and it will cost you two hours of attorney time to determine what the trustee could win in a preference action, then you may want to attempt settlement on your own. I caution you; however, not to attempt settlement negotiations without really giving an attorney a chance to advise you if the stakes are larger.