Prudential Insurance Company of America v. WestLB AG, 961 N.Y.S. 2d 360 (2012)
CASE SNAPSHOT
In re Miller, 2013 WL 425342 (6th Cir. Feb. 5, 2013)
CASE SNAPSHOT
The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals held that the secured lender’s credit bid, which equaled the total debt owed on two properties but exceeded the value of the only foreclosed property involved in the sheriff’s sale, extinguished the entire debt. The court affirmed the order to lift the automatic stay only to require the lender to dismiss the second foreclosure action, release the promissory note and mortgage, and turn over the second property to the borrower free and clear.
Good news for lenders. Judge Carey of the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware enforced a make-whole premium equal to 37 percent of the outstanding principal balance on a loan. He determined that, under New York state law, the calculation was not "plainly disproportionate" to the lender’s possible loss and was negotiated at arm’s length between sophisticated parties. In addition, Judge Carey held that a make-whole claim was not equivalent to "unmatured interest," which is unauthorized under Section 502 of the Bankruptcy Code, but instead was a claim for liquidated damages.
In re GAC Storage Lansing, LLC, No. 11-40944 (Bankr. N.D. Ill., Feb. 27, 2013)
CASE SNAPSHOT
The court denied confirmation of the debtor’s plan, finding that: (i) the debtor failed to demonstrate that it would be able to obtain financing to pay off the balloon payment; (ii) the proposed transfer of new equity to an individual with indirect ownership interest violated the absolute priority rule; and (iii) the plan’s injunction barring actions by the secured creditor against the guarantors was overly broad.
FACTUAL BACKGROUND
In re RAG East, LP– Case no. 12-04545-CMB (Bankr. W.D. Pa. March 4, 2013)
CASE SNAPSHOT
The court granted summary judgment in favor of a defrauded lender in a lien priority dispute with subsequent third-party lenders. The court determined that the lien of a purchase money mortgage that was allegedly released pursuant to a fraudulent satisfaction piece nonetheless had priority over the liens held by innocent third parties who provided loans to the debtor without notice of the fraud.
FACTUAL BACKGROUND
The Unsecured Creditors Comm. v. Community Bank(In re Stinson Petroleum Co., Inc.), Case No. 12-60234 (5th Cir., Jan. 7, 2013)
CASE SNAPSHOT
In re WEB2B Payment Solutions, Inc., 2013 WL 1188041 (8th Cir. BAP, Mar. 26, 2013)
CASE SNAPSHOT
The bank, which held a possessory lien in the deposit account of the debtor, lost its lien when it turned over the funds in the account to the trustee upon his turnover demand, because the bank failed to seek adequate protection prior to turning over the funds.
FACTUAL BACKGROUND
Secured lenders often resort to non-judicial foreclosure sales of personal property upon a borrower’s default. Article 9, Part 6 of the Uniform Commercial Code requires that every aspect of such a sale must be commercially reasonable. However, the courts have historically provided little guidance as to what exactly constitutes a commercially reasonable sale. Fortunately, the Delaware Chancery Court recently issued a decision, entitled Edgewater Growth Capital Partners, L.P. v. H.I.G. Capital, Inc., C.A. No. 3601-CS (Del.Ch. Apr.
In a busy day's work, on June 5, 2013, the FDIC and the Federal Reserve issued two new rules under Dodd-Frank impacting both domestic and foreign financial institutions.