The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act of 2020 (“CARES Act”) which Congress approved last week, together with the Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019 (the “SBRA”) which became effective on February 19, 2020, will make Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection much more attractive for small business debtors.
On March 25, 2020, the Senate passed an amendment to H.R. 748, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (as amended, the “CARES Act”), which (as of March 26, 2020) is being considered in the House.
The complete text of the current draft of the CARES Act can be found here.
“Only when the tide goes out do you discover who’s been swimming naked” – Warren Buffet
The tide has gone out on the municipal finance market.
While much of the discussion about the financial fall-out of the COVID-19 virus has focused on the massive wealth destruction in stock markets and pressure on corporates around the world, the impact on the largest financial market in the world- the $3 trillion US municipal finance market- cannot be ignored. Simply put, the market is imploding.
- Companies facing bankruptcy can still make smart moves
- Creditors should consider asserting liens before it’s too late
- Legal fees may be covered for some unsecured creditors
Oil prices took an historic nosedive Monday as Saudi Arabia and Russia announced plans that would flood a market already crippled by the coronavirus. How long this price war will continue is unclear but Brent and US crude have already lost half their value this year.
Running a family-owned farm is not easy work under the best of economic circumstances, and it can be nearly impossible when times are tough. More than 30 years ago, during the mid-1980s, John Cougar Mellencamp’s mournful song “Rain on the Scarecrow” discussed the epidemic of family farm foreclosures hitting the American Heartland. Thankfully, the overall family farm economy is not at that crisis level today, but storm clouds are rumbling.
Congress approved, and earlier this month the President signed, the Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019 which streamlines existing rules governing the efforts of small businesses to restructure successfully under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. The law effectively makes it more difficult for creditors to contest small business Chapter 11 cases, but it also provides creditors in all bankruptcy cases several major benefits through changes to the preference laws.
Subchapter V of Chapter 11.
Military veterans often pay a heavy toll for their service from a physical, emotional and even financial standpoint. A new federal law— the Honoring American Veterans in Extreme Need Act of 2019 or the HAVEN Act— aims to address the latter hardship, providing disabled military veterans with greater protections in bankruptcy proceedings.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held that payments made by a debtor’s customers to its lender converting a pre-petition loan to a post-petition loan constituted disbursements for the purposes of calculating the statutory fees payable pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 1930(a)(6). In re Cranberry Growers Coop., 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 21121 (7th Cir. July 17, 2019). This decision, coupled with the increase in the quarterly fees for the U.S.
Anyone who hasn’t heard about the “student loan crisis” in the U.S. hasn’t been paying attention. U.S. student loan debt is estimated to range from between $1.2 and $1.6 trillion with more than seven million borrowers in default. On an individual level, a graduate of a four-year college who took out a loan to get through currently owes, on average, $28,000. Average debt for a student who completed graduate school, as you would expect, is greater, and can range from $50,000 to more than $100,000.
This article originally was published in the February 2019 issue of the ABI Journal.