It was recently announced that law firm, Linebarger Goggan Blair & Sampson, has been helping communities across the state of Texas collect an estimated $2.2 million in property taxes from Radio Shack. This once thriving electronics retailer has been slowly working its way through Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. The $2.2 million is reportedly the full sum the retailer owed for 2015.
The big concern was that Radio Shack would get away with not paying its property taxes for the year. If this had occurred, it would’ve been incredibly unfair to the communities, not to mention devastating in regards to the anticipated revenue. And let’s not forget the tax payers located within those communities.
According to Collections & Credit Risk, “Among the biggest beneficiaries was Tarrant County, which will receive nearly $1 million this week on top of $647,000 the county received because of some earlier work by the law firm”.
Beth Weller, Linebarger Goggan Blair & Sampson bankruptcy partner, explained that Radio Shack has significant real estate holdings in Tarrant County, namely a large distribution center. Other counties to collect include: Harris County for $112,000, Dallas County for $108,000 and Bexar County for $76,000. It was also revealed that the remaining counties, cities and school districts will split the remainder.
The law firm first got involved in March of 2015. When Radio Shack filed a motion with the bankruptcy court to sell its assets, the firm stepped in and objected to the motion. This is when the negotiations began. According to the firm, the negotiations resulted in a reorganization plan that allowed for the collection of the full amount that was owed to each community. Even though Radio Shack began the negotiations with an offer to only pay a portion of what it owed, the law firm demanded that payment be made in full.
“This is a win not only for the local governments, but for the majority of their constituents who pay their taxes on time and in full”, says Weller.
For businesses that provide services like credit repair and debt collection, securing payment processing is not an easy task. In today’s world, the business market demands that merchants offer credit card processing for their customers. However, for the high risk merchant, finding a provider willing to offer their services is a real struggle.
While banks reject a high risk business’ application, a high risk provider – like EMerchantBroker – specializes in working with these businesses. Securing a collection agency merchant account with EMB, for example, offers a merchant the opportunity to secure an account tailored to meet the unique needs of the industry. In addition, unlike working with a bank, the application process is simple, fast and hassle-free. To learn more about a collection agency merchant account and what it can do for your business, contact EMB today.