On May 29, 2012, the Supreme Court in In RadLAX Gateway Hotel, LLC (“RadLAX”) held that a Chapter 11 reorganization plan that proposes the sale of encumbered assets free and clear of liens must honor the secured creditor’s right to credit bid its claim in order to be confirmed under the “fair and equitable” standard of the Bankruptcy Code.
It is not uncommon for firms to use standard language in their account agreements that creates liens on Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs). Two recent federal court decisions, however, suggest that granting such a lien on an IRA may constitute a prohibited transaction that causes these accounts to lose their tax exempt status, which in turn could potentially make IRAs subject to third-party creditor claims. These two decisions could have far-reaching implications for any firm that has used or still uses similar lien-creating language in their account agreements.
Taking the lead from its recent decision in In re River Road Hotel Partners,1 in In re River East Plaza, LLC,2 the Seventh Circuit held that a debtor cannot avoid the lien retention prong of Section 1129(b)(2)(A)(i)3 by transferring an undersecured creditor’s lien to substitute collateral as indubitable equivalence pursuant to Section 1129(b)(2)(A)(iii).
In re Provo Gateway, LLC (Bankr. D. Utah) Case no. 11-31259
In re Gelt Financial Corporation (Bankr. E.D. Pa.) Case no. 11-15827
In re East Coast Abatement Co. Inc. (Bankr. E.D. Va.) Case no. 11-73560
In re Summer View Sherman Oaks Apartments, LLC (Bankr. C.D. Cal.) Case no. 11-19800
In re MicroBlade, LLC (Bankr. W.D. Wis.) Case no. 11-14981
In re Piedmont Center Investments, LLC (Bankr. E.D. Wis.) Case no. 11-32453
In re GALP Highcross Limited Partnership (Bankr. S.D. Tex.) Case no. 11-36741
In re GALP Waters Limited Partnership (Bankr. S.D. Tex.) Case no. 11-36743