Alternatives to Bankruptcy from Bankruptcy Law Specialist Christy Myatt

The general notion behind receiverships is to preserve property pending the outcome of a case, or the foreclosure of real property or such other time as the Court deems a Receiver is not required.

The Receiver is usually an unrelated third party or attorney familiar with process.

I. State Court Receiverships

A. Purpose of Receivership

A Receiver plays an important part in three common situations:

CentsAbility: Creditors' Rights Law Update

In a recent case from the Business Court in Brunswick County, a North Carolina Judge held that Defendants could assert a claim for breach of the duty to negotiate in good faith finding that negotiations for a loan modification and renewal gave rise to a genuine issue of material fact as to whether the parties had entered into a “binding preliminary agreement.” RREF BB Acquisitions v. MAS Properties, LLC, No. 13 CVS 193, 2015 NCBC 58, 2015 WL 3646992 (N.C. Super. Ct. June 9, 2015).

CentsAbility: Creditors' Rights Law Update

The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina in InRe Reuben Samuel Royal, Case No, 14-07134-DMW (May 2, 2016) recently concluded that the Chapter 13 debtors cannot surrender a vehicle back to the lender after confirmation of a Chapter 13 plan even though the vehicle was depreciating or declining in value.

CentsAbility: Creditors' Rights Law Update

The Fourth Circuit has held that in a case where the rate of interest on a residential mortgage loan had been increased upon default, a Chapter 13 Plan proposing to “cure” default under 11 U.S.C. §1322(b) is an impermissible modification barred by §1322(b)(2).

A recent decision of the Court of Appeal has seemingly halted a trend towards leniency in the High Court in applications for the restriction and disqualification of directors of insolvent companies, particularly where the company has been struck off the register of companies for failing to file annual returns.

The Irish High Court recently, for the first time, recognised and gave effect to a Swiss law insolvency and restructuring process that had been commenced in Switzerland in respect of a Swiss company.

The Bankruptcy (Amendment) Bill 2015 has been passed without amendment and was signed by the President on Christmas Day 2015. The headline amendment in the Bill is the reduction of the term of Bankruptcy from 3 years to 1 year which mirrors the term of bankruptcy in the UK. In addition to certain procedural amendments, the key amendments are summarised as follows:

The High Court recently determined the extent to which a secured creditor must comply strictly with the formalities set out in a security instrument when executing a Deed of Appointment of a receiver. The Court ruled that strict compliance is required and that, in this case, this had not occurred.

Background

A creditor recently received a wake-up call from the Bankruptcy Court for the District of South Carolina in In re Crawford, an opinion issued by the Court on June 8, 2015. In Crawford, the Court granted the debtors’ motion to compel their automobile lienholder to release its lien after the debtors made all payments under their Chapter 13 Plan. In addition, the Court awarded the debtors $7,325.00 in attorneys’ fees for the creditor’s failure to comply with the terms of the confirmed Plan.

In the Matter of J.D. Brian Limited (In Liquidation) t/a East Coast Print and Publicity, In the Matter of J.D. Brian Motors Limited (In Liquidation) t/a Belgard Motors, In the Matter of East Coast Car Parts Limited (In Liquidation) and in the Matter of the Companies Acts 1963 - 2009