EX-STORE OWNER FILES BANKRUPTCY.

Byline: Jason Takenouchi Staff Writer

Monte B. McKeon, one of five McKeon brothers who owned the now-defunct Howard & Phil's Western Wear chain, has filed for personal bankruptcy, citing over $100,000 in credit card bills and an array of other debt.

McKeon's Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing reveals many of the continuing challenges that he and his brothers - including Rep. Howard P. ``Buck'' McKeon, R-Santa Clarita - face after the collapse of the company their parents founded in 1962.

The list of creditors in the Oct. 1 bankruptcy petition includes the state Board of Equalization, which is owed $395,776.80 for unpaid sales and use taxes relating to Howard & Phil's.

The petition also lists a $52,700 Superior Court lawsuit filed against all five brothers. The suit charges the brothers with defaulting on debt payments related to a promissory note.

But the largest liability in McKeon's petition - $2.8 million - stems from a civil action by Coast Business Credit, the main creditor of the McKeon brothers' defunct retail clothing company.

Coast filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court in June which alleges the four brothers who ran the chain - Monte, Joseph B., John D. and Timothy - ``participated and conspired in the submission of false reports'' in order to ``deceive'' Coast into giving Howard & Phil's large cash advances. Coast claims it is owed about $4 million.

McKeon's bankruptcy filing halts the suit as it relates to him, but the case against the other three brothers will continue unless they also file for bankruptcy, according to Coast lawyer Robert Freitas. Monte McKeon did not return calls for comment.

Ironically, Rep. McKeon is a strong advocate for tightening bankruptcy laws to make it harder for people to erase unsecured debt such as credit card obligations.

Coast's suit does not target the congressman, though, and McKeon has distanced himself from the company's problems. After his 1992 election to Congress, McKeon stepped down from management; his only continued involvement was as a 20 percent owner, according to his spokesman, David Foy.

But former employees who were left with unpaid wages when Howard & Phil's closed say they disagree.

``I think he's just as responsible as the four other brothers,'' said Amy Elliott, former store manager of the company's Thousand Oaks and Northridge stores. ``If he didn't want responsibility for it, he shouldn't have kept his 20 percent.''

But at least one McKeon is not out of the western wear business yet.

According to his bankruptcy filing, Monte McKeon is now a $5,000-a-month employee of Alta Montana Corporation Inc., the company that purchased most of Howard & Phil's assets and subsequently reopened several of the chain's stores.

McKeon's brother-in-law, Don Williams, manages Alta Montana's Valencia store. He formerly was general merchandise manager for Howard & Phil's.

Elliott said Monte McKeon's continued involvement is disturbing.

``A lot of people feel like Monte McKeon and all the McKeon brothers have gotten away with it,'' Elliott said.

``There's just no justice,'' she said. ``It's a case of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer.''

Elliott says she is still owed about $250. Other former Howard & Phil's employees filed claims upward of $1,000.

Those claims are not listed in the bankruptcy petition, though, and the state dropped an effort to collect unpaid wages after Howard & Phil's assets were sold in June.

Other claims on the estate of Monte McKeon and his wife, Kathy, include:

An $85,000 promissory note to Santa Clarita-based Valencia Bank & Trust.

Congressman McKeon served on the bank's board of directors before his 1992 election to Congress. Joseph McKeon was elected to the board after his brother stepped down and served until the mid-1990s.

Credit card debt of $116,563.72, spread over nine different cards.