A surprise bankruptcy filing last week by Bossier Country automobile dealership in Fairfield should allow business operations to continue by getting it out of a running fight with Chrysler Financial.

The filing was made in U.S. Federal Court in Waco last Thursday as the parties were squabbling in Freestone county 77th District Court.

"It's business as usual with no pressure from Chrysler Financial," Bossier partner Randy Pretzer says.

Chrysler Finacial was seeking to lock down the dealership through a writ of sequestration filed as part of a lawsuit filed a week earlier.

In the lawsuit, the financial firm contended that Bossier Country was delinquent in making payments on its floorplan loan and sought to sieze vehicles on the lot, furnishings and equipment to protect its claim.

Pretzer admits that Bossier Country is delinquent in making payments to Chrysler Financial—-his attorney admitted as much in a court hearing last week—-but that the problem rests with Chrysler Financial.

"Chrysler Financial is going out of business," the car dealer says. "If we can't pony up and pay the debt, they want you out, across the country."

As part of an agreement to accept federal government bailout funding earlier this year, Chrysler Corporation filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy to reorganize, and part of the process was to split off Chrysler Financial which must cease business by Dec. 31, 2011.

Pretzer reports that Bossier Country remains on good terms with New Chrysler Corporation, which manufactures automobiles, and is retaining the Chrysler-Dodge franchise.

The argument, which prompted a Chapter 11 filing last week by Bossier Country, is with the financial business.

The car dealer says that he and partner Scott Bossier have been working out arrangements to secure new financing and sever ties with Chrysler Financial, but that the lender became impatient and forced the issue.

New financing, Pretzer says, has been secured through an investor.

Judge Patrick Simmons, 77th District, announced Thursday afternoon at a hearing on a writ of sequestration that he planned to allow Chrysler Financial to secure automobiles to which it could show it has a claim, but would not make the car dealer surrender furniture and equipment.

While attorneys from the two sides were review- ing inventory lists, Bossier lawyer Jordan Mayfield, received a telephone call that a bankruptcy filing had been filed on behalf of the car dealer.

That action halted the state district court proceedings, and Pretzer notes that it gave the dealership some breathing room to get new financing arrangemements finalized.

In addition to the writ seeking vehicles in the Bossier Country inventory, Freestone county joined the action as an intervenor to collect $50,743 in taxes on vehicles and parts owed the county and other taxing entities.

Pretzer reports that Chrysler Financial is currently holding $1 million in dealership money, funds it normally would be entitled to as reimbursement for manufacturer rebates and to pay off liens on vehicles that were traded in by customers.

Because money has been held—-Chrysler Financial attorneys say they are protecting their interests—-several customers of Bossier Country have not been able to get car tags for new vehicles and have been told by financing companies that they are deliquent on payments.

The car dealer says that the Chapter 11 filing will put the responsibility for paying customer leins more square on the shoulders of Chrysler Financial.

He also points out that tax liabilities also will be paid.

Pretzer says that Bossier Country did not want to file the bankuptcy petition, but was prepared if needed.

Apart from the Chrysler Financial, are the dealership's relationship with suppliers of vehicles, Chrysler-Dodge, Chevrolet and Hyundai.

Bossier country sells Chrysler and Chevrolet vehicles at its main location on the east I-45 service road and operates a separate Hyudai dealership immediately to the north.

The car dealer says he has visited with all three automotive companies and they plan to continue business.

"We want to be here and do a good job in the community," Pretzer says. "This is all Chrysler credit."

Bossier Country has been in business for 22 years and in 2006 was named "Business of the Year" by the chamber of commerce in Fairfield.

The dealership reported gross sales of $76 million in its 2005-06 fiscal year and currently employs 35 people.

Pretzer reports that Chrysler closed a dealership in Waxahachie owned by he and Bossier earlier this year, as the manufacturer closed 700 dealerships across the country.

The partners also sold a Nissan dealership they owned in Kansas.

In the dustup with Chrysler Financial, Pretzer says Bossier Country has received a lot of support from their customers and the community.