Bloodstock Agent Stiff Files for Bankruptcy

Lexington-based bloodstock agent Dennis Stiff has filed for Chapter 7 federal bankruptcy protection, listing $13,915 in assets and $705,833.12 in liabilities. The filing also included Stiff's Bay Bloodstock.

In the Dec, 7, 2012, filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky, all of Stiff's assets consist of personal property and no real property. In addition to banks, lenders, and credit card companies, Stiff lists several individuals and entities involved in the horse business among his creditors.

Among the creditors is Shelia Bayes of Lexington, who is owed $100,000 on a loan. In a lawsuit filed in 2009, two Arkansas investors sued Stiff and Bayes, who operates a Lexington jewelry store, to recover a 2005 investment. A jury later dismissed the claims against Bayes.

The bankruptcy petition lists Basinger and Mueller Thoroughbreds as creditors who are owed $94,317.91 from the judgment.

According to the bankruptcy code, Chapter 7 is for debtors in financial difficulty who do not have the ability to pay their existing debts. "The purpose of a Chapter 7 case is to obtain a discharge of your existing debts," according to the code. After allowing for certain property that is determined exempt from bankruptcy, the remainder of the assets are turned over to a trustee to be sold, with proceeds paid to creditors.