First published in LES Insights

If you have negotiated an intercreditor agreement, you are familiar with the lengthy bankruptcy waivers typically drafted by counsel for first-lien lenders.

Although property obtained by a debtor after filing for bankruptcy is usually safe from creditors, a recent case from the Ninth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel allowed a Chapter 7 Trustee to sell real property obtained by the debtors post-petition.

In a recent decision in a Delaware Chapter 11 case, the court took the unusual step of capping the amount of a secured lender’s loan that could be used in the lender’s credit bid in a Section 363 sale.

The Delaware State Legislature recently amended Article IV, section 11 of the Delaware Constitution to add United States Bankruptcy Courts to the expanding list of courts and agencies that may certify questions to the Delaware Supreme Court. The list already included other Delaware courts, the United States Supreme Court, a Court of Appeals of the United States, a United States District Court, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, or the highest appellate court of any other state. See Del. Const. art. IV, § 11(8).

The opinion by the Delaware bankruptcy court in In re Fisker Auto. Holdings, Inc., raised alarm bells for secured creditors throughout the country. Many worry that it will diminish the valuable right of secured creditors to credit bid, which is the right to bid up to the amount of a secured claim without paying cash.

The OCC has issued guidance to clarify supervisory expectations for national banks and federal savings associations in situations where secured consumer debt is discharged under Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceedings. The guidance issued on February 14 in OCC Bulletin 2014-4 describes the analysis necessary to “clearly demonstrate and document that repayment is likely to occur” to avoid the charge-off that would otherwise be required by the OCC’s Uniform Retail Credit Classification and Account Management Policy.

The chapter 9 bankruptcy case of the City of Detroit has been as complex and litigious as anticipated.  Nevertheless, Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr has kept plodding forward, and last week filed a proposed plan of adjustment, the road map for the Motor City to emerge from bankruptc

A recent decision in the bankruptcy case of Fisker Automotive Holdings, Inc., et al. has called into question a long-held belief that secured creditors hold dear: that debt purchased at a discount can nonetheless be credit bid at its full face amount at a collateral sale. While it remains to be seen how other courts will interpret Fisker, this decision has the potential to restrict participation in Bankruptcy Code section 363 sales and dampen liquidity in the robust secondary markets.

On January 17, 2014, the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (the “Bankruptcy Court”) entered an order in the Fisker Automotive (“Fisker”) chapter 11 bankruptcy cases limiting the ability of Fisker’s secured lender, Hybrid Tech Holdings, LLC (“Hybrid”), to credit bid at an auction for the sale of substantially all of Fisker’s assets.¹ Hybrid immediately sought an appeal of the Bankruptcy Court’s