The District of Columbia Court of Appeals recently held that a condominium association acting on its six-month super-priority lien for unpaid condominium assessments pursuant to § 42-1903.13(a)(2) of the District of Columbia Condominium Act (the “D.C. Condo Act”) may not conduct its foreclosure sale subject to a first deed of trust lien, even if the terms of sale stated that the condo unit would be sold subject to first deed of trust.

On March 1, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals held that a condominium association acting on its six-month super-priority lien for unpaid condominium fees may not perform its foreclosure sale while leaving the property subject to a first deed of trust lien, even if the terms of the sale stated that the condo unit could be sold subject to the first deed of trust. The D.C.

The District of Columbia Court of Appeals recently reversed a lower court’s decision granting summary judgment to a condominium association and held that the association’s foreclosure of a “super-priority” condominium lien may not have extinguished an otherwise first-priority mortgage on the property. SeeU.S. Bank Nat’l Ass’n v. Green Parks, LLC, No. 16-cv-842 (D.C. Mar. 13, 2018). In the case, the borrower obtained a loan to purchase a condominium.

Topics covered in this issue include:

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debtor, the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland recently held that a bank that had allowed amounts to be withdrawn from a home equity credit line after the HELOC had been frozen could still recover those amounts from the debtor.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.

Debtors seeking dismissal of an involuntary bankruptcy proceeding may want to consider a recent decision of the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Columbia.  In denying an individual debtor’s motion to dismiss an involuntary petition, the court in In re Barkats held that a debtor may not pay off petitioning creditors to the detriment of other creditors as a way of avoiding an involuntary p

In re Beltway Law Group, LLP, 514 B.R. 341 (Bankr. D. D.C. 2014) –

A managing partner filed an involuntary chapter 7 petition against a professional limited liability partnership. The bankruptcy court denied the petition and dismissed the case based on its interpretation that the entity was a corporation and not a partnership for purposes of the Bankruptcy Code.

Albert v. Green Tree Servicing, LLC (In re El Erian), 512 B.R. 391 (Bankr. D. D.C. 2014) –

A chapter 7 trustee sought to avoid the lien of a recorded deed of trust because (1) it contained both correct and incorrect parcel numbers and (2) it was improperly indexed. The issue turned on whether a bona fide purchaser would have had inquiry or constructive notice of the deed of trust.

On February 11th, the three private plaintiff-appellants and eleven State plaintiff-appellants in State National Bank of Big Spring, et al. v. Jacob J. Lew, et al. filed briefs with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in their appeal of the District Court’s decision that the plaintiffs lacked standing to challenge certain provisions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, Pub. L. No. 111-203, 124 Stat. 1376 (2010) (the “Dodd-Frank Act” or the “Act”).

For many parents with school-age kids, the month of August marks the end of summer vacation and the start of the new school year, and in this spirit, a post on practice fundamentals seems appropriate.  Specifically, attorneys are responsible for (i) maintaining an accurate address of record to ensure proper service and (ii) monitoring their case docket to avoid missing a deadline.  While this may seem elementary, the recent decision from Judge Teel of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Columbia nonetheless reinforces a point that is particularly applicable to a