In a rare win for mortgage lenders, the 11th Circuit (controlling law in Florida, Georgia, and Alabama) ruled today that an owner who agrees to “surrender” their residence in bankruptcy court under 11 U.S.C. Section 521(a)(2)(A) also forfeits the right later to challenge any foreclosure proceedings on the property.

Equitable subordination in bankruptcy can be a powerful tool, providing a court with considerable latitude to set things right insofar as the estates of the penniless and the rights of their creditors are concerned.

By no means do we think that we might reliably predict the outcome of such a politically charged case as King v. Burwell, No. 14-114, the latest challenge to the Affordable Care Act.

Most bankruptcy lawyers might think that the dismissal of a bankruptcy proceeding and the revesting of the bankruptcy estate’s assets in the debtor bring an end to the bankruptcy court’s jurisdiction.

On October 20, 2014, we issued a Legal News Alert commenting on a decision of the Delaware Supreme Court, on certification from the Second Circuit, regarding the effect of a mistaken UCC-3 termination statement.The Delaware Supreme Court held that an indisputably mistaken UCC-3 termination statement that purported to terminate a lender’s security interest in a $1.

Vigilantibus non dormientibus, æquitas subvenit.

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Sometimes state legislatures react slowly to judge-made law and sometimes they move swiftly to correct perceived problems created by court rulings. Often, such rash legislative action is not well thought-out or properly drafted, making the solution worse than the fix. However, in Florida, within one legislative session, the Florida Legislature and governor considered and enacted a set of amendments to Florida's limited liability statute that hopefully will signal the business community that Florida knows how to pass laws that make sense.