The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit recently affirmed the bankruptcy court’s denial of a debtor-borrower’s motion for sanctions, which alleged that her mortgage loan servicer violated her bankruptcy discharge by mailing a communication in a purported attempt to collect upon a discharged debt.
Section 548 of the Bankruptcy Code enables trustees to avoid certain pre-bankruptcy transfers of “an interest of the debtor in property,” where the transfer was intended to defraud creditors or where the transfer was made while the debtor was insolvent and was not for reasonably equivalent value. 11 U.S.C. § 548(a). Section 544 of the Bankruptcy Code enables trustees to avoid a transfer of “property of the debtor” where a creditor of the debtor would have such a right under state law. 11 U.S.C. § 544(a).
The Bankruptcy Protector
A Texas bankruptcy judge has determined that a landlord will not be entitled to an administrative claim for post-petition rent as it failed to file and prosecute a timely motion for allowance of the administrative rent claim holding that a previously and timely filed proof of claim is insufficient. In re: Taco Bueno Restaurants Inc., --- B.R --- (Docket No. 18-33678), 2019 WL 4010681 (Bankr. N.D. Tex. Aug. 23, 2019).
The Filing and Lease Rejection
“[A] party moving for substantive consolidation must provide notice of the motion to the creditors of a putative consolidated non-debtor,” held the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Sept. 9, 2019. In re Mihranian, 2019 WL 4252115 (9th Cir. Sept. 9, 2019) (emphasis added).
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Dennis Montali recently ruled in the Chapter 11 case of Pacific Gas & Electric (“PG&E”) that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) has no jurisdiction to interfere with the ability of a bankrupt power utility company to reject power purchase agreements (“PPAs”).
The Bankruptcy Protector recently discussed notable non-bankruptcy provisions that must be consulted to ensure compliance with privacy issues. In this post, we discuss notable Bankruptcy Code provisions and Bankruptcy Rules on these issues.
Section 101(41) of the Bankruptcy Code—Personally Identifiable Information
On August 23, 2019, President Donald J. Trump signed into law two bills amending the Bankruptcy Code: (i) the Family Farmer Relief Act of 2019 (“FFRA”); and (ii) the Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019 (“SBRA,” and with FFRA, the “Acts”).1 Here are summaries of the Acts and important takeaways.
DEBT LIMIT INCREASE APPLICABLE TO AGRIBUSINESSES
On August 23, 2019, President Trump signed into law the “Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019.” The primary effect of the “SBRA” is the creation of a subchapter to Chapter 11 for small business debtors, i.e. those with no more than $2,725,625 in secured and unsecured debts combined, to address the unique issues faced by those companies in the bankruptcy process.
In the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (“2005 Act”), Congress amended the Bankruptcy Code and Title 28 of the U.S.