Introduction
In early November, the Ninth Circuit held in In re New Investments, Inc. that a debtor was required to “cure” defaults to an agreement using a post-default interest rate, overturning its prior, decades-old decision In re Entz-White Lumber & Supply, Inc., which had held that a debtor could cure agreements at pre-default interest rates.
Background
A decision from the United States Supreme Court penned by Justice Sonia Sotomayor adopted a broad reading of “actual fraud” in section 523(a)(2)(A) of the Bankruptcy Code, which excepts from discharge debts “obtained by . . .
A recent decision from the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Texas caught our eye because of the unconventional opening line:
“Summers are hot in Texas, so pools are a hot item. But not hot enough to help a pool installer [ . . . ] avoid bankruptcy” – Judge Tony M. Davis, United States Bankruptcy Judge.
Although our Blog focuses more on corporate restructuring issues than individual bankruptcies, the discharge of student loan debt is a topic that seems to be an exception to that rule (see The Eternal Pursuit to Collect: Due Process Rights and Actions to Collect on a Debtor’s Defaulted Student Loans,
It is spring and the stands will soon ring with the oft-heard refrain, the clarion call of players and fans alike, “Hey ump, read the rules!” In Rosenberg v.
“Some people have a way with words, and other people…oh, uh, not have way.”
On Saturday, February 13, Antonin Scalia, Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, passed away. Although there has been no shortage of media coverage (and brouhaha regarding Justice Scalia’s successor and the process for appointing same), we at the Weil Bankruptcy Blog want to take a moment to pay our respects.
A foreign company makes a foreign distribution to foreign shareholders shortly before merging with a U.S. company in a highly-leveraged LBO. The resulting company files a chapter 11 petition in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York 13 months later. Can the foreign transfer be avoided as a fraudulent conveyance under section 548 of the Bankruptcy Code? Previously, the answer was almost certainly not (at least in the Southern District of New York).
“Desperate times call for desperate measures” is often a rallying cry to justify harsh actions taken during times of panic and uncertainty which, in retrospect, are regrettable. To protect against such adverse consequences in bankruptcy, there are and should be safeguards in place to prevent creditors from imposing unreasonable restrictions on a debtor at the immediate onset of an involuntary case. In