Grogan v. Harvest Capital Co. (In re Grogan), 476 B.R. 270 (Bankr. D. Or. 2012) –
In Grogan, the debtors planted and harvested Christmas trees. The bankruptcy court was called upon to determine whether the debtors could exercise their “strong arm” powers under Section 544(a) of the Bankruptcy Code to trump the liens of two of their lenders on the Christmas trees.
In Re Loucheschi LLC, 471 B.R. 777 (Bankr. D. Mass 2012) –
When a lender makes a loan that does not comply with usury laws it runs a risk that not only will interest and charges be disallowed, but also the entire loan may be declared void. In cases where declaring a usurious loan void is discretionary, one might expect a bankruptcy court to be inclined to do so since it could benefit the bankruptcy estate.
© 2011 Bloomberg Finance L.P. All rights reserved. Originally published by Bloomberg Finance L.P. in the Vol. 5, No. 12 edition of the Bloomberg Law Reports—Bankruptcy Law. Reprinted with permission. Bloomberg Law Reports® is a registered trademark and service mark of Bloomberg Finance L.P.
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 October 7, California Governor Gavin Newsome signed SB 616 into law. This new law, which goes into effect on September 1, 2020, includes changes to California law regarding garnishments.
Below are summaries of the noteworthy decisions, laws and requirements impacting the commercial lending industry which occurred or took effect in 2018. Please feel free to contact us for additional information or details on any of the items listed below and/or to discuss whether updates to your loan documents may be needed to address the same.
1. New, Improved Rules for High Volatility Real Estate Loans
In re: Linear Electric Co., Inc., No. 16-1477, 2017 U.S. App. Lexis 5527 (3d Cir., March 30, 2017)
In re Carroll, 520 B.R. 491 (Bankr. M.D. La. 2014) –
A chapter 7 trustee sought to substantively consolidate the bankruptcy estates of individual chapter 7 debtors with the separate bankruptcy estate of their wholly owned limited liability company (LLC). Only the debtors, and none of the creditors, objected to substantive consolidation.