If the business is a corporation, and you bought the corporation, the debt is still due. If the business is not a corporation, and you merely purchased some assets, and you are now a sole proprietorship, you are not personally liable for the contracts by the prior owner. This answer is based on the assumption that you are in GA. Since you said "I no longer want them to withdraw money from my business account" it appears you are using the same bank account as the prior owner. You should not do that. You are subjecting yourself to all issues the prior owner may have had with that account, including outstanding debits like this, bad credit card charges, bad checks that may come back, etc. If so, close that bank account and open your own account in your name. If you continue with the same account, you likely will continue to pay for the credit card processing machine.
Answered on Dec 16th, 2013 at 4:32 PM