OUR SERVICES
Ag & Business Legal Strategies offers a specialized approach to a focused practice area. We help farmers and small business owners resolve their financial problems.
Agricultural Law
Your farm financials reveal a lot about your operation. We help farmers with regular analyses of assets and liabilities, as well as providing counsel in debt restructuring, bankruptcy, farm leases, succession planning, and other legal negotiations.
A real estate investor needed help complying with the state’s right of first refusal for farmland sold at a sheriff’s sale.
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ABLS negotiated a consensual resolution that allowed the investor to sell the farm he had purchased at a sheriff's sale.
A farmland tenant received conflicting demands from the IRS and his landlord's bank to send them his rent payment to satisfy the landlord's debt.
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ABLS protected the tenant farmer from double liability while also negotiating a consensual resolution for the two creditors.
An outside attorney approached ABLS for help in completing a sheriff's sale of a foreclosed farm while also complying with Iowa's farmer-friendly foreclosure rules.
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ABLS not only worked with all parties to resolve this sale along state guidelines, it corrected an error in the court judgment and represented the bank at the sheriff’s sale.
A farmer’s seed and chemical supplier sued him when he refused to pay an erroneous six-figure bill.
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In an alternative to litigation, ABLS helped the farmer file a Chapter 12 bankruptcy that paid the supplier much less over time than the bill, and allowed the farmer to continue working as normal.
Business Law
We advise business owners on a variety of legal matters, including buying or selling a business or farm real estate, creditor representation, involuntary bankruptcy, and other complex legal negotiations.
A small business owner discovered his partner had embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars from the business.
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ABLS helped the remaining owner keep the business afloat, pay off its debt, and obtain a judgement against the absconding business partner.
Commercial & Farm Debt Restructuring
If your farm financials are beginning to show cracks, it’s better to identify the problem and find a solution rather than “wait and see.” We can assist with evaluating your debts and negotiating a plan with creditors for restructuring payments that allow you to breathe easier.
A farm couple signed a forbearance agreement with a bank that permitted it to take the farm, worth more than the debt amount, if they did not repay on time.
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ABLS used bankruptcy adversary proceedings to recover the farm after seizure and helped the couple sell part of it to pay the bank, reorganize other debts, and continue farming.
Commercial & Farm Bankruptcy
If your farm or business is financially stressed, bankruptcy could be your best option. We will review your situation for bankruptcy, discuss what might apply under federal bankruptcy code, help you gather the necessary information to file, and protect your rights in court.
A farmer who couldn't keep up with his mortgage payments had part of his farm sold at a sheriff's sale.
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ABLS negotiated a consensual resolution that allowed the investor to sell the farm he had purchased at a sheriff's sale.
A failed cattle packing plant faced a mechanic's and banking liens blocking sale of the plant and holding the owners' other property as collateral.
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ABLS guided company owners through a bankruptcy that allowed them to sell the plant despite unresolved liens, and helped them refinance remaining bank debt.
Farm owners who had fallen behind on their payments sought help from ABLS.
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ABLS guided them through a Chapter 12 bankruptcy that saved their house in town, sold the farm, and discharged more than $250,000 in tax liability from the liquidation.
An organic crop and dairy farmer needed help navigating overwhelming debt.
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ABLS helped the farmer file a Chapter 12 bankruptcy and ultimately retain his homestead, which otherwise would have been sold to pay the debt.