This is certainly nothing new - companies have been getting away with this for years.  They run up bills with abstractors and then all of the sudden, they are operating under a new name and claim to have no responsibility for the previous entity's debts.  In my opinion, when the owners are the same, the office is the same, the clients are the same, and they are even trying to use the same abstractors, something smells fishy!  The only thing that really changes is that they don't pay their past bills.  That should be criminal!

If it were me, I would refuse to work with the new company.  You may not be able to collect the past-due balance, but I certainly wouldn't give them another opportunity to stiff you. 

Best,
Robert A. Franco
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