In re Arenas, 514 B.R. 887 (Bankr. D. Colo. 2014) –
The U.S. trustee sought to dismiss “for cause” a chapter 7 case filed by a marijuana grower and his wife. The debtors countered by moving to convert to a chapter 13 case. The case turned on the impact of the federal Controlled Substances Act.
In re The Free Lance-Star Publ’g Co. of Fredericksburg, VA, 512 B.R. 798 (Bankr. E.D. Va. 2014) –
After the debtors obtained court approval of bidding procedures to auction substantially all of their assets, a secured creditor sought a court determination that it had valid perfected liens on the assets, and the debtors sought to limit the secured creditor’s right to credit bid in the bankruptcy sales.
In re Joan Fabrics Corp., 508 B.R. 881 (Bankr. D. Del. 2014) –
The buyer of assets in a bankruptcy sale sought to enforce its asset purchase agreement against a county that was seeking to collect personal property taxes arising prior to the sale by exercising a statutory lien on the property acquired by the buyer.
In re Creekside Senior Apartments, LP, 477 B.R. 40 (6th Cir. B.A.P. 2012) –
In valuing a bank claim secured by a low-income housing project for purposes of a plan of reorganization, should the remaining federal low‑income housing tax credits allocated to the project be taken into consideration? In Creekside the bankruptcy court said yes, and the bankruptcy appellate panel agreed.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit recently issued an important decision on the valuation of collateral of secured creditors and “lien-stripping” in Chapter 11 cases. In In re Heritage Highgate, Inc.,1 the court held that in a Chapter 11 case, the value of a secured creditor’s collateral under §506(a) of the Bankruptcy Code2 was the fair market value of the property as established by expert testimony and it was permissible to “strip the lien” of the creditor where it was unsupported by collateral value.
Recently, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Federal Reserve Board (FRB) each issued rules related to different aspects of the Dodd-Frank Act. The FDIC published in the Federal Register an interim final rule clarifying how it will treat certain creditor claims under the new orderly liquidation authority (OLA) granted under Title II of the Dodd-Frank Act.
On October 7, 2020, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (“Ninth Circuit”) vacated, as moot, two FERC orders asserting concurrent jurisdiction to review the disposition of certain Pacific Gas & Electric Corporation (“PG&E”) power purchase agreements (“PPAs”) that PG&E sought to reject through bankruptcy. In a brief memorandum decision, a three-judge Ninth Circuit panel explained that the orders had become moot when the bankruptcy court confirmed a reorganization plan that had PG&E assume, rather than reject, the PPAs.
On March 27, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz clarified that Executive Order 20-20, which directed Minnesota residents to stay at home, applies to debt collection professionals. Due to ongoing coronavirus (“COVID-19”) concerns, Executive Order 20-20, which will remain in effect until April 10, 2020, orders all persons living in the State of Minnesota to stay at home except to engage in exempted activities and critical sector work.
On June 7, 2019, Judge Dennis Montali of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of the Northern District of California San Francisco Division found that FERC’s finding that it had concurrent jurisdiction with the U.S. bankruptcy court over wholesale power agreements was “unenforceable in bankruptcy court and of no force on the parties before it.” Judge Montali further noted that if necessary, the U.S. bankruptcy court will “enjoin FERC from perpetuating its attempt to exercise power it wholly lacks.” At issue, on review by the bankruptcy court, was whether, pursuant to 28 U.S.C.