On April 10, 2009, the North Carolina Office of Commissioner of Banks closed Cape Fear Bank, headquartered in Wilmington, North Carolina, and the FDIC was named as receiver.
In a decision entered July 30, 2009, the Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina held that a bankruptcy trustee can avoid the lien claim of a subcontractor whose claim derives from a claim of lien on funds asserted under North Carolina state law. The case is In re: Harrelson Utilities, Inc.
Legal Background
A United States Magistrate Judge in the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina has denied a motion to compel discovery of all claims for which the insurer had denied coverage based on the desire of an insolvent insured to forfeit coverage.Lane v. Endurance American Specialty Insurance Co., 2011 WL 1791343 (W.D.N.C. May 10, 2011). The court granted, however, the plaintiff’s motion to compel the insurer to provide information about all other claims noticed under the policies at issue.
Does a debtor’s pre-petition change of the beneficiary of a life insurance policy constitute a “transfer” of an interest of the debtor in property? Not according to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, which held earlier this week that such transfers do not “diminish” the estate.[1]
Bottom Line
In its recent decision in Mitchell v. Zagaroli, Adv. Pro. No. 20-05000, 2020 WL 6495156 (Bankr. W.D.N.C. Nov. 3, 2020), the Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of North Carolina held that the Chapter 7 trustee could step into the shoes of the IRS and utilize the IRS’ longer look-back period to avoid fraudulent transfers.
What Happened?
Lenders should view as cautionary tales two recently handed down decisions regarding UCC-1 financing statements and the perfection of security interests. On December 20, 2019, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Kansas in In re Preston held that security interests in personal property were unperfected because the UCC-1 incorrectly set forth the debtor’s name. On January 2, 2020, the U.S.
A chapter 13 debtor sought a court determination that a mortgage loan was unsecured because there was a small typo in her name when the mortgage was indexed. The mortgagee brought a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim.
Applicable state law included the following provisions:
The debtor made claims against a surety that issued a performance bond in connection with a construction contract. The surety contended that it was not liable for the consequential damage claims.