By Porter Wright on On March 27, 2020, President Donald Trump signed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act into law. Among other things, the CARES Act made some important changes to the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. Specifically, the CARES Act modified subchapter V of the bankruptcy code to make it more widely available to small businesses. The … Continue Reading
By Walter Reynolds on The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Unsecured Creditors Committee of Sparrer Sausage Co., Inc. v. Jason’s Foods, Inc., 2016 WL 3213090 (7th Cir. June 10, 2016) expanded the scope of the ordinary course defense in a bankruptcy preference action. This case provides an excellent road map for a creditors’ rights attorney defending a preference … Continue Reading
By Walter Reynolds on Until the recent U. S. Supreme Court’s decision in Husky International Electronics, Inc. v. Ritz, __ U.S. __, 136 S.Ct. 1581, 194 L.Ed.2d 655, 84 U.S. L.W. 4270 (2016), there was disagreement in the circuit courts regarding whether a debtor in bankruptcy could be denied a discharge under 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(2)(A) where the evidence … Continue Reading
By Walter Reynolds and Tami Hart Kirby on For years, it was generally accepted that mortgage creditors and bankruptcy trustees could assert the status of a bona fide purchaser and treat a defectively notarized mortgage as if that mortgage did not exist. On February 16, 2016, our Supreme Court provided clarity regarding the legal effects of R.C. §1301.401 and provided protection to lenders … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit plays a uniquely important role in the development of the bankruptcy laws. The liberal venue rule for bankruptcy cases set out in 28 U.S.C. § 1408 has led to the disproportionate filing of large and mega chapter 11 bankruptcy cases being filed in the District … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Recently, a bankruptcy court for the district of Puerto Rico held that a debtor’s waiver of the automatic stay contained in a pre-petition forbearance agreement was enforceable. In re Triple A & R Capital Inv., Inc., 519 B.R. 581 (Bankr. D.P.R. 2014). Unfortunately, the case adds little to the debate over the enforceability of pre-petition … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on The Bankruptcy Code has approximately 275 different sections. The number of its subsections and subparagraphs is well into the thousands. It is impossible to select the “most significant” provision in the Bankruptcy Code, but among the candidates for that title is certainly § 105 of the Code. Section 105(a) of the Bankruptcy Code provides in … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on It is often said that the acid test of a security interest or lien on property is the bankruptcy of the property owner. If that person or entity files a bankruptcy petition, the bankruptcy trustee has a number of options to challenge or even avoid certain liens. A lien that is not properly perfected is … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Nearly 30 years after enactment of the Bankruptcy Amendments and Federal Judgeship Act of 1984 and establishment of the current bankruptcy court structure, courts are still struggling to understand the bounds of a bankruptcy court’s jurisdiction and power. Unfortunately for one recent appellant, a bankruptcy court’s power to enter punitive damages is not as great … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Businesses active in Ohio’s current oil and gas boom should be aware of how oil and gas leases are treated in bankruptcy. Unsettled Ohio law regarding whether a debtor owns unextracted oil and gas as part of the debtor’s real property can make this a difficult issue. This eBook discusses recent court opinions and examines … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on When a person “pays” a debt with a fictitious check, someone other than the bad guy usually ends up losing. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals recently addressed such a situation in White Family Cos., Inc., v. Slone (In re Dayton Title Agency, Inc.), Case Nos. 12-3265;3359, July 31, 2013. In Dayton Title, the accused … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on As with our prior posts on oil and gas leases in bankruptcy (located here and here), this post presents another thorny issue – namely, “Is an oil and gas lease a lease at all?” Whether an oil and gas lease is a “lease” is significant in the bankruptcy context, because the Bankruptcy Code has several … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on As Ohio enjoys its latest boom in oil and gas exploration, it is important to understand how oil and gas leases are treated in bankruptcy. The importance of these issues are underscored by the frequency with which the courts confront them; hence we visit again this unsettled area and consider further the question of the … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on As Ohio enjoys its latest boom in oil and gas exploration, it is important to understand how oil and gas leases are treated in bankruptcy. Unsettled Ohio law regarding whether a debtor owns unextracted oil and gas as part of the debtor’s real property can make this a difficult issue. In In re Loveday, No. 10-64110, … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Secured creditors of borrowers holding Federal Communications Commission ("FCC") broadcasting licenses, as well as such borrowers seeking credit, will be reassured by a recent decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, In re: Tracy Broadcasting Corporation, released October 16, 2012. The Tenth Circuit has joined other courts in upholding the priority … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on This article is Part Seven in a seven-part series on how to structure sales and what to do when your customer fails to pay. You can find previous articles in this series here: Structuring Sales to Ensure Payment; Signs of Trouble Before Payment Default; Default by a Customer: Knowledge is Power; What to Consider When … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on This article is Part Two in a seven-part series on how to structure sales and what to do when your customer fails to pay. You can find Part One of this series here: Structuring Sales to Ensure Payment. Please subscribe to this blog by entering your email in the box on the left, or check … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Health care lenders and others evaluating or relying on the financial strength of a healthcare provider need to think about the potential recoupment and setoff of claims against Medicare/Medicaid receivables of the provider. RECOUPMENT Recoupment, which is the netting of two related claims which is the function of a single, unitary transaction between the parties, … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Breaking with the Third Circuit and the Fifth Circuit, on June 28, 2011, the Seventh Circuit held that a debtor’s plan of reorganization that provides for the sale of the debtor’s assets free and clear of an existing security interest may only be confirmed over the objection of its secured creditor if the plan’s sale … Continue Reading
By Tami Hart Kirby on The ability of a single asset real estate debtor in a bankruptcy case to utilize a non-consenting secured creditor’s cash collateral has been limited by a recent decision from the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel of the Sixth Circuit in In re Buttermilk Towne Center, LLC, 2010 FED App. 0010P (B.A.P. 6th Cir. 2010). Under 11 U.S.C. … Continue Reading
