The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Florida recently held that, at a minimum, “surrender” under Bankruptcy Code §§ 521 and 1325 means a debtor cannot take an overt act that impedes a secured creditor from foreclosing its interest in secured property.
In so holding, the Court found that actively contesting a post-bankruptcy foreclosure case is inconsistent with a “surrender” of the property.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently affirmed in part and reversed in part a trial court’s judgment against a debtor who filed an adversary proceeding alleging that a creditor and its counsel violated the bankruptcy discharge by trying to collect a discharged debt, holding that the attorney could not be held in contempt because he lacked knowledge of the discharge, but the creditor could be held liable for the actions of its counsel under agency law.
Reversing a bankruptcy court order in favor of the debtor, the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland recently held that a bank that had allowed amounts to be withdrawn from a home equity credit line after the HELOC had been frozen could still recover those amounts from the debtor.
A copy of the opinion is available at: Link to Opinion.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit recently held, in a case of first impression, that a creditor violates the bankruptcy discharge injunction by filing a proof of claim on a debt that was previously discharged in another bankruptcy proceeding.
A copy of the opinion is available at: Link to Opinion.
Our legislation prohibits (as unconscionable) clauses that, while not negotiated with consumers, require “collateral disproportionate to the risk assumed” (art. 88(1) of the Spanish Consumer and User Protection Act). Note that this rule has not been the subject of any case law development and that the clause that paradoxically could yield to art.
The rule
The Portuguese Official Journal (Diário da República) published last 30 May Act no. 32/2014, approving the new pre-enforcement out-of-court procedure.
The above referred procedure will come into force on 1st September 2014 and will be available to creditors with enforceable instruments that may be relied on in summary enforcement proceedings (judgments, orders for payment and extrajudicial instruments regarding overdue pecuniary obligations).
En los acuerdos de refinanciación homologados 1. Según el apartado 2 de la DA 4ª, a los efectos de la presente disposición se entenderá por “valor de la garantía real” de que goce cada acreedor el resultante de deducir, de los nueve décimos del valor razonable del bien sobre el que esté constituida dicha garantía, las deudas pendientes que gocen de garantía preferente sobre el mismo bien, sin que en ningún caso el valor de la garantía pueda ser inferior a cero ni superior al valor del crédito del acreedor correspondiente. Alcance 2.
Introduction This paper sets out to present a concise description of the amendments to the rules governing Spanish pre-insolvency arrangements pursuant to new Royal Decree Act (Order in Council) 4/2014, of 7 March, adopting urgent measures in relation to refinancing and restructuring of corporate debt (“RDA 4/2014”), in force as from 9 March 2014. This new text has introduced a series of important changes, most of them via amendments to the Spanish Insolvency Act (“SIA”), aimed at easing and expediting preinsolvency debt refinancing and restructuring processes in Spain.
- The sale of productive units of a company subject to insolvency proceedings has become common practice in the Commercial Courts, especially those of Catalonia, which have the express support of the Directorate General for Industry of the Regional Government of Catalonia.
This procedural solution allows companies to continue as a going concern, ensuring the maintenance of jobs and avoiding the destruction of the business landscape.