Hudson Valley kitchen contractor Abraham Gandl has filed for bankruptcy, citing debts from a failed business.
Gandl declared $431,000 in personal assets and nearly $4.2 million in liabilities in a Chapter 7 liquidation petitioned filed July 6 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Poughkeepsie.
Most of the liabilities are business debts by co-debtor HNL Kitchens & Bath Inc. of Middletown.
Gandl founded HNL in 2015, as High N Low Kitchens & Bath Inc. The company concentrated on large projects, such as high-rise apartment buildings and hotels. It claims to have built or renovated more than 10,000 kitchens, according to its website.
Last August, the bankruptcy petition states, the business ceased operating.
Gandl”™s assets consist mostly of his house in Monroe, valued at $431,000. But the house secured more than $1 million for business loans, court judgments and IRS and state tax warrants.
He owes $688,860 to PennyMac Loan Services, for instance, on a loan he defaulted on four months after it was taken out, according to a PennyMac foreclosure action filed in Orange County Supreme Court.
Around the same time, he personally guaranteed a $280,000 revenue purchase agreement with Syndimate 2017 LP. HNL was required to pay the merchant cash advance lender 15% of its deposits per day, estimated at $1,750. HNL defaulted and Syndimate won a court judgement.
Gandl declared more than $3.1 million in unsecured claims, including nearly $1.1 million to FinWise Bank of Sandy, Utah; $654,885 to Abraham Landau, who guaranteed the FinWise loan; and $339,580 to HNL”™s CFO, Richard Stone.
All but 20 of the 59 unsecured debts were listed as disputed.
He has worked in a sales position for the past nine months, making about $397 a month.
He declared income of $6,000 a month from an unspecified source and $700 a month in federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.
He listed personal income of $36,000 through July 6, $50,000 last year and $28,800 in 2018.
He also shows a 40% interest in RAV Group LLC, described as a startup. It was incorporated in June, according to a state corporation record, by Richard Stone.
His total monthly income of $7,097 is offset by $10,476 in expenses, according to the petition, including $5,506 in mortgage payments.
Gandl is represented by Eastchester bankruptcy attorney Julie Curley.
