Morris v. Ark Valley Credit Union (In re Gracy), 522 B.R. 686 (Bankr. D. Kan. 2015) –
A chapter 7 trustee sought to avoid a credit union’s security interest in a manufactured home by asserting his strong arm powers as a hypothetical lien creditor based on the lender’s failure to perfect its lien. The bankruptcy court declined to avoid the lien since it held there was no lien to avoid.
U.S. Bank, N.A. v. Brumfiel (In re Brumfiel), 514 B.R. 637 (Bankr. D. Colo. 2014) –
After a debtor reopened her chapter 7 bankruptcy case, a lender moved for relief from the automatic stay in order to continue with a foreclosure action. The debtor objected, arguing among other things that the lender did not have standing to request relief.
In connection with a proposed sale of real property, a chapter 11 debtor sought to prohibit the mortgagee from submitting a credit bid. It contended that there was “cause” based on its argument that the mortgagee’s claims were subject to a bona fide dispute.
Olsen v. Heaver (In re Heaver), 473 B.R. 734 (Bankr. N.D. Ill. 2012) –
The short story is that when a deed and mortgage are executed at the same time, but the mortgage is recorded before the deed, the recorded mortgage does not provide constructive notice and can be avoided in a bankruptcy – at least under Illinois law as interpreted by the Heaver bankruptcy court.
In In reAm. Capital Equip., LLC1 the Third Circuit addressed the issue of whether a bankruptcy court has the authority to determine at the disclosure statement stage that a Chapter 11 plan is unconfirmable without holding a confirmation hearing. The court held that when a plan is patently unconfirmable, so that no dispute of material fact remains and defects cannot be cured by creditor voting, a bankruptcy court is authorized to convert the case to Chapter 7 without holding a confirmation hearing. Am.
Recently, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Federal Reserve Board (FRB) each issued rules related to different aspects of the Dodd-Frank Act. The FDIC published in the Federal Register an interim final rule clarifying how it will treat certain creditor claims under the new orderly liquidation authority (OLA) granted under Title II of the Dodd-Frank Act.
Early last week PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc., in its capacity as trustee in bankruptcy for Sequoia Resources Corp., filed a statement of claim against Perpetual Energy Inc., attempting to unwind an asset sale from Oct. 1, 2016. Alternatively, PwC is seeking $217-million in damages. Along with Perpetual, PwC has named certain subsidiaries and its CEO, Susan Riddell Rose, as defendants.
In its statement of claim, the plaintiff is relying upon legal principles associated with oppression, reviewable transactions in insolvencies and regulatory law in support of its action.