From time immemorial, banks and other secured lenders have relied on their ability to "credit bid" for their collateral as a key source of protection and negotiating leverage against debtors and competing bankruptcy acquirors. Credit bidding secured debt rather than paying cash for collateral has been an effective counterweight against a debtor’s protections of the automatic stay and its exclusive right to control the plan formulation process and bankruptcy sales under Section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code.

The U.S. Supreme Court will rule this term in RadLAX Gateway Hotel Inc. v. Amalgamated Bank on whether the Bankruptcy Code permits a debtor in a chapter 11 case to sell encumbered assets without providing the secured lender an opportunity to credit bid its debt. Determination of this question will require the Court essentially to choose between two opposing approaches to statutory interpretation, and decide whether the so-called “plain meaning” of a highly formalistic reading of the Bankruptcy Code should trump decades of established commercial practice.   

In today’s lending climate, confession of judgment provisions (“COJ Provisions”) have become a fact of life for the Virginia banker.  Indeed, as troubled loans become more prevalent, a properly drafted COJ Provision can often be a creditor’s best friend.  No longer can we afford to lump COJ Provisions into that fuzzy “boilerplate” category that we so easily gloss over.  More and more bankers are coming to the realization that a COJ Provision is one of the most powerful tools a creditor can have against a defaulting debtor. 

In general, a company has two bankruptcy alternatives: liquidation under Chapter 7 and reorganization under Chapter 11.

Under Chapter 7, upon the filing of a bankruptcy petition, a trustee is appointed to gather and sell all of the debtor’s assets as quickly as possible. Once the trustee liquidates all of the assets, it must pay creditors in accordance with the priority scheme mandated by the Bankruptcy Code:

In September 2011, in In re Longview Aluminum, LLC, 10-2780 (7th Cir. 2011), the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals held that members of an LLC are insiders for preferential transfer purposes under the Bankruptcy Code. This is the case even if the member holds only a minority membership interest and is not actually in control of the enterprise.

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York recently issued a decision that will significantly limit the chances of success for many claims that the trustee of the Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities (“BLMIS”) estate, Irving Picard, has brought against former investors in BLMIS to recover funds for the estate. In Picard v. Katz, 11 Civ. 3605 (S.D.N.Y.), District Judge Jed S. Rakoff issued a decision that dismissed most of the causes of action brought against a group of investors under the U.S.

In today’s economy, we continue to see bankruptcies occurring in the construction sector. An owner, contractor, or subcontractor in financial distress can easily delay a project — or worse, jeopardize the project in its entirety. Contractors need to understand their rights in order to minimize their exposure in bankruptcy-related situations.

Protecting Contractors — Frequently Asked Questions

In a case of first impression that has important implications for parties who acquire intellectual property rights under international license agreements, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia held that the protections of Section 365(n) of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code applied to licensees of U.S. patents in a Chapter 15 case, despite the fact that those protection were not available under the foreign law applicable to the foreign debtor.  In re Qimonda AG, Case No. 09-14766 (Bankr. E.D. Va., Oct. 28, 2011) (Mitchell, Bankruptcy J.).

The case of In re Dickson, 655 F.3d 585 (6th Cir. 2011) centered on the status of the debtor’s manufactured home under Kentucky law.  In Kentucky, a manufactured home is considered personal property.  As such, in order for a lien to be effective, it must be noted on the certificate of title.  A manufactured home may be converted to real property, however, if the owner files an affidavit that states it is permanently affixed to real estate and then surrenders title.

On November 17, 2011 the IRS issued final Treasury Regulations (the “Final Regulations”) that address the tax consequences of a debtor partnership’s issuance of equity in satisfaction of a debt obligation (a “Partnership Equity-for-Debt Exchange”). The Final Regulations provide debtor partnerships, their partners and creditors with welcome clarity regarding the federal income tax consequences of such restructuring.