Many landlords are very familiar with provisions of the United States Bankruptcy Code dealing with assumption and rejection of leases. However, the particular consequences of lease rejection may not be as well known. For example, once a lease is rejected or deemed to be rejected, a landlord may not know its rights with respect to regaining possession of the leased premises. A recent case from a Florida bankruptcy court shed some light on this issue when it held that after a debtor has rejected a lease, the tenant must surrender the premises to the landlord.
Introduction
On May 31, 2010, Specialty Products Holding Corp ("SPHC" or the "Debtor"), filed for bankruptcy in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. This post is one of two posts regarding the SPHC bankruptcy. The first post will look at the Debtor's businesses and events leading up to the bankruptcy filing, while a second post will look at how SPHC intends to deal with the large volume of asbestos claims that forced it to file for bankruptcy.
The Third Circuit recently held that a bankruptcy court may confirm a Chapter 11 plan that includes a sale of assets in which secured creditors are not permitted to “credit bid” for the assets. In re Philadelphia Newspapers, LLC, 599 F.3d 298 (3d Cir. 2010). In that case, the debtors in possession, companies that own and operate the Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News, moved the bankruptcy court to approve bid procedures for an auction of the debtors’ assets. Id. at 302.
Introduction
Companies that plan to sell goods or services to a debtor in bankruptcy should be aware of a recent case decided by the Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, holding that a trustee may avoid a debtor’s post-petition transfers of cash collateral if such transfers were made without the consent of the secured party or court order.1
On June 2, 2010, the Third Circuit overruled longstanding precedent interpreting the definition of a “claim” under the Bankruptcy Code. In JELD-WEN, Inc. v. Van Brunt (In re Grossman’s Inc.), No. 09-1563, slip op., (3d Cir. June 2, 2010) an en banc panel rejected the state law accrual theory of claims recognition established in Avellino & Bienes v. M. Frenville Co. (Matter of M. Frenville Co.), 744 F.2d 332 (3d Cir. 1984), in favor of the more widely followed conduct test theory.
The US District Court for the District of Connecticut recently dismissed a customer suit against an insurer, based upon its determination that all of the underlying claims were excluded by the policy’s Insolvency Exclusion.1 Associated Community Bancorp, Inc., et al. v. The Travelers Companies, Inc., et al.
Recently, the LandSource Creditor Litigation Liquidating Trust (the "Litigation Trust"), commenced various avoidance actions in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. This post will look briefly at the events leading to the commencement of this bankruptcy proceeding. Further, the post will look at some of the issues that confronted the Debtor during the reorganization process.
Background
INTRODUCTION
The Texas Rangers filed for bankruptcy relief in late May, 2010, to break an impasse between the club and its bank lenders, who are owed approximately $550 million and who oppose a planned sale to a group led by Nolan Ryan. The Rangers are owned by Hicks Sports Group, which acquired the club in 1998 and had guaranteed the debt.