Nature abhors a vacuum. Equipment finance abhors bankruptcy. Whether in securitized or large, single-asset financings, financiers structure transactions to be “bankruptcy remote.” This article will discuss a December 2021 bankruptcy court bench ruling that found certain protective provisions to be unenforceable and describe how those provisions might have been devised to survive the court’s scrutiny.

On May 8, 2022, Armstrong Flooring, Inc., a Lancaster, Pennsylvania-based designer and manufacturer of innovative flooring solutions, filed a petition for relief under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code in the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (Case No. 22-10426).

In In re Squirrels Rsch. Labs, LLC, No. 21-61491, 2022 WL 1310173, at *1 (Bankr. N.D. Ohio Apr. 29, 2022), the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Ohio recently addressed whether post-sale of the debtors’ assets, a creditor could conduct discovery to investigate the extent of a secured creditor’s liens in order to amend the distribution of the sale proceeds. Under the facts of this case, the bankruptcy court denied the creditor’s request.

I. Introduction

On May 10, 2022, Talen Energy Supply, LLC, a Texas-based independent power producer founded in 2015, filed a petition for relief under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code in the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas (Case No. 22-90054).

“The trustee shall . . . appear and be heard at . . . any hearing that concerns . . . the value of property . . . confirmation of a plan . . . sale of property.” § 1183(b)(3) (emphasis added).

In every Subchapter V case, the trustee has a statutory duty to “appear and be heard” on certain issues. Often, a trustee can satisfy such duty, on many issues, by participating in a hearing and expressing a verbal opinion on the matter that’s before the Bankruptcy Court.

At the COP26 climate summit in November 2021, over forty countries committed to phase out use of coal-fired power.

The Bankruptcy Protector

How A Subchapter V Case Filed by Controversial Alex Jones Could Shape the Scope of Subchapter V Cases

In the United States, student loans have exceeded $1.6 trillion, making student loans a central focus amongst Chapter 7 and 13 debtors. Student loans facilitated or guaranteed by the U.S. government or a non-profit institution are non-dischargeable in bankruptcy court, pursuant to Section 523 (a)(8) of the Bankruptcy Code. A non-dischargeable debt means that the debtor must still repay the debt even after successful Chapter 13 or 7 bankruptcy.

This is a three-part article that explores whether private student loans are excepted from discharge under Section 523 (a)(8) of the Bankruptcy Code. Section 523 (a)(8) includes three categories of non-dischargeable student loan debt. Part I of the blog article discussed Section 523 (a)(8)(A)(i) and can be accessed here.