Pending motions in the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York in General Growth Properties’ (GGP) bankruptcy case (Case No. 09-11977) are expected to shed new light on how courts may treat real estate special-purpose entities in bankruptcy and may also have implications for the efficacy of bankruptcy-remote SPE structures used in asset-backed securitization transactions.

A recent court decision, Thermal Supply, Inc. v. Big Sky Beef,LLC, 195 P.3d 1227 (Mont. 2008) underscores the importance of filing Uniform Commercial Code (“UCC”) continuation statements to prevent the lapse of financing statements even during bankruptcy or litigation.