A line of credit is simply a loan, only you get the money as you need it, and only pay interest on what you take out.

If yours is a small company, it is likely the line of credit is personally guaranteed by whomever the owner is, and whomever else signed the loan. If you default, the bank can take you to court, and will ding your credit report.

If yours is a larger company, and the line of credit is not personally guaranteed, while the bank will have no problem launching suit against the company, it will be harder to sue the owners (if they gave no personal guarantee).

What I would do is send them a letter. Be very upfront. I know I owe you this money, I simply cannot pay it. I request a meeting with you to discuss a plan for me to meet my obligation. Emphasize you do intend on paying.

Meet with them, suggest breaking what you owe up into smaller monthly payments that you can afford.

Send a certified letter after confirming the discussion, whichever way it went.

Bottom line, handle this in an open way. Show intent to pay them back. The cost to take you to court will likely result in them not actually taking you to court, so as long as you handle this in an open way, they probably will accomodate. You might want to try to get a promise that they will not ding your credit, but i’m not sure whether that is possible or not.

I’ve seen that the key to handling issues like this is to just be very open and honest. Don’t hide. Answer your phones. Know this will pass eventually. Think of this as a test of your character. Weak people run from problems. Strong people face them head on with resolve.

In the scheme of things, $9k may seem like a lot of money, but it is not.

Sounds like your in trouble