Guarantors After the ABC: The Claims the Assignment Never Touched

The company assigned; the owner who signed the personal guarantee did not. Guarantee claims proceed at full speed alongside the ABC — and for many creditors they are the recovery that matters.

What the Law Says

Personal guarantees are the creditor’s separate contracts with the guarantors; the assignor’s ABC neither stays nor discharges them. Suit, demand, and settlement against guarantors proceed independently, with estate distributions merely crediting against the guaranteed balance.

How to Navigate It, Step by Step

1. Pull every guarantee in the file the day the ABC notice arrives — including the ones buried in credit applications.
2. Demand on the guarantors immediately; the ABC is the event of default their signature contemplated.
3. Sue on the timeline the guarantee’s value warrants — solvent guarantors reprioritize fast when served.
4. Credit estate distributions against the balance and pursue the remainder.
5. Settle with releases that preserve your estate claim — the two channels close separately.

Common Questions

The owner says the ABC means everything goes through the assignee now. True for his guarantee?

False — his personal obligation is untouched, and the deflection itself signals he knows it.

Our guarantee is from the owner’s spouse too. Does that matter?

Substantially — a second obligor and community property exposure widen the recovery map; demand on every signature you hold.