Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear another bankruptcy case and this one could have a profound effect on a lender’s bidding rights when its collateral is up for sale.  RadLAX Gateway Hotel, LLC v. Amalgamated Bank, No. 11-166, cert. granted Dec.

The case of In re Dickson, 655 F.3d 585 (6th Cir. 2011) centered on the status of the debtor’s manufactured home under Kentucky law.  In Kentucky, a manufactured home is considered personal property.  As such, in order for a lien to be effective, it must be noted on the certificate of title.  A manufactured home may be converted to real property, however, if the owner files an affidavit that states it is permanently affixed to real estate and then surrenders title.

Numerous municipalities in California and elsewhere are struggling financially. Indeed, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and Central Falls, Rhode Island have both recently filed for Chapter 9 protection. State governments may have neither the economic reserves nor the political will to bail out troubled cities and counties. These circumstances have raised the focus on Chapter 9 as a tool for reorganizing municipality debt obligations and has deepened the debate between states and their municipalities about the best strategies for addressing a fiscal crisis.

In a recent appeal to the Sixth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel, Inre Collins, 2011 WL 4445451 (6th Cir. BAP Aug. 12, 2011), the trustee sought a declaratory judgment to determine the validity, extent, and priority of liens on the debtor’s real property held by four defendants.  The trustee appealed the district court’s dismissal of his complaint as to purported holders of the debtor’s first and second mortgages on the debtor’s property.

FILING CHAPTER 13

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently affirmed a bankruptcy court’s decision refusing to confirm debtors’ reorganization plan that included auction procedures that forbade secured creditors from “credit bidding” for the assets. Inre River Road Hotel Partners, LLC, No. 10-3597, 2011 WL 2547615 (7th Cir. June 28, 2011). In that case, the debtors (owners of various hotel properties) proposed a plan of reorganization that included auctioning certain properties encumbered by security interests.

Recent remarks by the English High Court in the insolvency case Green (Liquidator of Stealth Construction Limited) -v- Ireland [2011] EWHC 1305 (Ch) suggest that in some circumstances, and at least in the context of fast-moving real property transactions, an exchange of emails may well satisfy the requisite formalities for creation of a binding and enforceable contract.

In connection with the administration of the debtors’ bankruptcy case, the trustee in Badovick v. Greenspan (In re Greenspan), No. 10-8019, 2011 Bank. LEXIS 272 (B.A.P. 6th Cir. Feb.

Debtors filed a voluntary petition for relief under Chapter 7.  The Debtors own and have title to real property ("Property").  Prior to the Petition Date, the husband borrowed $85,000 from Lender. This loan was reflected by a promissory note signed only by the husband, as "Borrower."  The term "Note" is defined in the Mortgage as the promissory note signed by Borrower.  On the same date, a mortgage granting Lender a mortgage on the Property was executed.

The Seventh Circuit recently decided that a mortgage that assigns future rental income to the mortgagee creates a security interest that takes priority over a federal tax lien.  Bloomfield State Bank v. United States, No.