A commercial real estate receiver’s powers will be clarified when Michigan’s Uniform Commercial Real Estate Receivership Act (the “Act”) becomes effective in May. The legislation, signed by Gov. Rick Snyder on Feb. 6, 2018, effects many sweeping changes and answers a question plaguing courts: Can a state receiver court sell property free and clear of liens and redemption rights?
The United States Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Michigan recently issued an opinion in a case that involved mutual claims between the debtor and a creditor, and lifted the automatic stay to allow a creditor to exercise “setoff” rights provided by state law to recover its debt.1
The Background
The deadline for interested purchasers of every child's favourite superstore, Toys R Us, to submit their letters of intent fell last week, with sources indicating that several parties had expressed interest in purchasing the beleaguered retailer. Hilco Capital, the company which saved HMV from Liquidation in 2013, have reportedly submitted a bid and are believed to be amongst the favourites for the troubled retailer.
On February 21, the U.S. Department of the Treasury released a report on the Orderly Liquidation Authority (OLA) and Bankruptcy Reform.
Back in the day--say, the last two decades of the twentieth century--we bankruptcy lawyers took it largely on faith that the right structural and contractual provisions purporting to confer bankruptcy-remoteness[1] were enforceable and likely to be successful in preventing an entity from becoming, voluntarily or involuntarily, a debtor under the Bankruptcy Code.
On February 21, the Department of Education published a Request for Information (RFI) seeking feedback on whether there is a need to clarify the threshold for “undue hardship” when evaluating bankruptcy cases in which borrowers seek to discharge student loans. According to the RFI, current U.S.
On February 16, FDIC Chairman, Martin J. Gruenberg, spoke at an event hosted by The Wharton School in Philadelphia about the challenges associated with managing the orderly failure of a systemically important financial institution.
Bankruptcy is not a sure-fire remedy for credit union members in severe financial distress. While it can provide an avenue for escaping your promises to repay, it can also have some unintended, disagreeable consequences. I have represented credit unions across four states in US Bankruptcy Courts over the last 40 years. During those decades, I found that too many lawyers who file bankruptcies for credit union members are often not discussing all the consequences with their clients.
Recent years have seen many prominent retailers filing for bankruptcy, such as The Sports Authority, Toys “R” Us, The Limited, Coldwater Creek, Radio Shack, and Charming Charlie. This wave is expected to continue into 2018, and commercial landlords need to know their rights (and obligations) when their tenants file for relief in bankruptcy. The rules governing leases in bankruptcy are lengthy and complex, but landlords should pay particular attention to the main issues that typically arise in a tenant bankruptcy.
Courts are often faced with the situation in which affiliated debtors file for Chapter 11 reorganization and request to have their cases jointly administered. While joint administration does not, without more, cause substantive consolidation of the assets and liabilities of the corporate group, jointly-administered debtors may propose a single plan of reorganization that establishes the recovery for all of the debtors’ creditors.