Keeping House
Defined in 2 dictionaries — Cyclopedic (1922), Black's (1891)
The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary
Walter A. Shumaker and George Foster Longsdorf; ed. James C. Cahill · 1922
In English bankruptcy law. The act of a trader in withdrawing to a secret part of the house, refraining from going to business, or confining himself to the house for the purpose of avoiding his creditors. It is an act of bankruptcy. Robs. Bankr. 107 et seq.
A Dictionary of Law
Henry Campbell Black · 1891
The English bankrupt laws use the phrase “keeping house” to denote an act of bankruptey. It is committel when a trader absents himself from his place of business and retires to his private residence to evade the importunity of creditors. The usual evidence of “keeping house” is refusal to see a creditor who has called on the debtor at his housa for money. Robs. Bankr. 119.