ABC-7 Xtra: Exclusive interview with El Paso mayoral candidate Isabel Salcido

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- Current City Rep and mayoral candidate Isabel Salcido has faced questions about her business and personal finances, debts, and lawsuits over unpaid bills.

Now she is speaking out about how she's responding to the legal and financial challenges.

City Rep. Isabel Salcido says that the economic downturn in 2020 affected her businesses, and caused most of them to have to close, and that while the court cases show more than $200 thousand dollars worth of debt or judgments against her, the initial debt was actually higher.

"I had three sports grills, one that was being built, I had a distribution company and a manufacturing company that's about seven companies there," Salcido explained to ABC-7. "Between all of them, about $350,000 in debt."

As ABC-7 has reported, Salcido has five active or settled lawsuits against her.

Salcido says she will pay back what is owed with the money she currently on hand from her real estate sales.

"But at the end of the day, they're going to get every single penny that I owe them. And that's all I was intending to do. That is why I did not bankrupt."

She says she came to payment agreements with most of her creditors and has already paid back at least $100,000. But Salcido disputes the case filed in Harris county by Hitesh Amin, saying she was in communication with him to make a payment plan before the case was filed in 2021.

Salcido says that she was never served or notified of the lawsuit, only finding out about the default judgment for not being in court when discovering a lean on her property earlier this year.

"And if you don't get served properly, how can you show up to a court you have no knowledge of?"

Court records show that Salcido was not served with the suit, with a registered letter sent in the end, which she says she never received.

Salcido now saying that her attorneys are preparing to file responses.

"I'm a planner, you know, things happen, but I create plans and I find solutions. And that's no different. I mean, I completely think about how devastating this is, but I find solutions, I make adjustments, I pivot, and then you just attack the problem for what it is."

And she intends to continue her mayoral campaign, loaning it $100,000 of her own funds.

"I'm doing it for the right reasons. I believe I'm going to make the difference here. And that investment for my community is extreme, well worth it."

We have also reached out to the attorney for Amin for this story. We are waiting for a response.