Enforcing judgment against a dissolved corporation

[sapphire]

What is the name of your state? Oregon

I have a question about enforcing a judgment against a dissolved corporation.

Judgment was obtained in Oregon in 2000 against a corporation in Washington State. In December of 2005, this corporation was administratively dissolved (they did not file corporate reports and did not pay fees).

I do understand that the first step is to register the judgment into Washington State. Here is where I am confused. It does appear that the business is still operating under the corporate name – at least phone records indicate this. Although I have not located any bank account records, it is highly likely that their corporate bank account is still in tact. I guess part of my question is this:

Does the principal of the corporation become liable because the corporation is dissolved? In other words, am I able to execute against the assets of the corporation principal? If not, should I follow the same execution procedures against the corporation as if the corporation had not been dissolved?

I am sorry that this is so disjointed, but at this point, that is how my thoughts are.

Any information you can offer will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

[Chien]

By "administratively dissolved", do you mean that the Board of Directors dissolved the corporation or do you mean that the corporation lost it's authority to do business because of regulatory omissions?

In many states, the owner of a corporation that forfeits its authority to conduct business but continues is treated as operating as a sole proprietorship.

But if that is true in WA (and I haven't looked at the statutes or case law), you could pursue the principal if he/she is named on the judgment - eg. Acme, Inc., a suspended corporation; John Doe dba Acme, Inc., a suspended corporation.

You need counsel in WA to tell you if you have a chance, if you do domesticate and, if the principal is not on the judgment, you need to amend the judgment before domesticating.