By Porter Wright on Background In loan agreements, lenders customarily require the borrower to make various financial covenants whereby the borrower promises to achieve certain financial metrics, often requiring the borrower to stay above or below certain thresholds based on its operations. Since financial covenants are based on past financial performance, breaches of financial covenants typically cannot be cured … Continue Reading
By Greg Daugherty on Every business owner must make a decision regarding what he or she will do with the business. If no family member is able or willing to assume ownership, an increasingly popular succession planning strategy has been to sell the business to an employee stock ownership plan (“ESOP”). ESOPs are popular in part because of the … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on The Ohio Judicial Conference has issued a bench card, a copy of which is attached, that gives Ohio’s Common Pleas Court judges a checklist they may use when presented with an order seeking judgment on a note containing a warrant of attorney. While the bench card is merely advisory, it represents a victory for those … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on In this blog, we have described some of the original concerns with the “high volatility commercial real estate” loan regulation as well as some suggestions for change. These rules apply to certain real estate loans for acquisition, development and construction. Recently, there have been suggestions that changes are possible regarding “high volatility commercial real estate” loans … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Another attack on the use of warrants of attorney to confess judgment was recently introduced into the 132nd Ohio General Assembly. H.B. 67 was introduced on February 16, 2017 by Representative Ron Young, a Republican of Leroy Township in Lake County. The bill has not yet been assigned to a committee. The bill seeks to … Continue Reading
By Walter Reynolds on Most of us are familiar with that old saw “location, location, location”. While location might enhance the value of real estate, including the location as part of the collateral description in the UCC financing statement can limit the protections provided to a secured creditor and may provide a strategy for attack by a bankruptcy trustee. … 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 Steven Hoying on Last year, as noted by this blog, the FDIC, OCC, and Federal Reserve imposed harsher capital requirements on certain “high volatility commercial real estate,” or HVCRE, exposures, in accordance with the Basel III international banking standards. These new requirements were opposed not only by the real estate industry but also by banking associations, particularly the … Continue Reading
By Steven Hoying on Last year, as discussed by this blog, the NCUA proposed a new set of regulations designed to ease restrictions on business lending by credit unions. These regulations would remove all prescriptive limits on member business loans (“MBLs”) and replace them with the fundamental principle that commercial loans must be appropriately collateralized. The NCUA recently approved … Continue Reading
By Steven Hoying and Porter Wright on The Ohio General Assembly is currently considering a bill that would greatly restrict creditors’ ability to ask debtors to sign cognovit notes. A cognovit note allows a creditor, upon a debtor’s default, to enter judgment against the debtor without the usual notice or hearing. Current Ohio law, specifically Ohio Revised Code Section 2323.13, generally enforces … Continue Reading
By Steven Hoying and Porter Wright on Credit unions’ ability to lend to businesses may receive a boost if proposed NCUA regulations are approved. Business loans are becoming an increasingly important part of credit unions’ operations. Total business loans at federally insured credit unions grew from $13.4 billion in 2004 to $51.7 billion in 2014, growing from 3% of all total credit … Continue Reading
By Steven Hoying and Porter Wright on Lenders who finance commercial real estate exposures should be aware of new regulations that impose harsher capital requirements on certain “high volatility commercial real estate,” or HVCRE, exposures. In June 2013, the FDIC, OCC, and Federal Reserve jointly approved proposed rules intended to implement new international banking standards, known as the Basel III Capital Accords, … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Determining whether a security interest is properly perfected by using a state’s online lien search may be leading you astray. Perfecting a security interest in collateral establishes the priority of the secured party’s claim to such collateral, providing the perfected secured party with an interest in such collateral superior to the rights held by most … 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 I. Introduction Effective March 23, 2015, Ohio’s antiquated receivership statute (Ohio Rev. Code Chapter 2735) will be modernized, particularly as it relates to the appointment of a receiver in commercial mortgage foreclosures and the ability of a receiver to sell real estate free and clear of liens. II. Appointment of a Receiver Previously, commercial mortgagees … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on If you are a lender/mortgagee and your borrower/mortgagor is adding more real property collateral to the mortgage (in Ohio), how do you retain your first priority position in all mortgaged property while adding that property to the mortgage? This question is especially relevant when the borrower is assembling property as part of a development. The … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on At a time of relative affluence in the farming industry, the FDIC has issued a warning on a need for monitoring agricultural credits. FIL-39-2014 (July 16, 2014) suggests that banking institutions of all sizes should carefully consider a recent, negative projection by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. While current market conditions are good, the projection … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on In K One Limited Partnership v. Salh Khan, et al., 10th Dist. No. 13AP-830, 2014 Ohio 2079, the Tenth District Court of Appeals for Franklin County, Ohio reexamined the limited meritorious defenses available to obtain relief from a cognovit judgment under Civ. R. 60(B) and held that such defenses are restricted “to the integrity and … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Commercial leases often lack leasehold financing provisions despite the significant impact such provisions can have on the business dealings of the tenant during the term of the lease. Long-term, creditworthy tenants, those who have value in their leaseholds such as restaurants and hotels, are often prime candidates for leasehold financing. A leasehold mortgage is very … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on In a decision that will warm the hearts of vendors everywhere, the Court of Appeals for Ohio’s Eighth Appellate District recently upheld the enforceability of personal guaranty language in a credit application. See Wholesale Builders Supply, Inc. v. Green-Source Development, L.L.C., et al., 2013-Ohio-5129. This decision also serves as a reminder to read before signing. … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on A recent change to Ohio’s agricultural lien law clarifies the interplay between security interests governed by Article 9 of the UCC and those governed by Ohio’s agricultural lien statutes, and confirms the ruling of the Sixth Appellate Court of Erie County in Ohio Dept. of Agriculture v. Central Erie Supply & Elevator Association, 2013-Ohio-3061. Central … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on In its Oct. 30, 2013 decision in General Electric Capital Corporation v. Tartan Fields Gold Club, Ltd., et al., 2013-Ohio-4875, the Fifth District Court of Appeals made clear that a lender does not waive its right to enforce its rights upon the borrower’s default merely entering into negotiations to restructure a loan; the court further … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Secured lenders extending financial accommodations to borrowers whose collateral includes perishable food items should consider certain specific risks associated with such collateral. Notably, the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act of 1930 (PACA) creates a statutory trust for the benefit of persons who originally sell the perishable agricultural commodities to such borrowers and are not paid. The … Continue Reading