Clinton County Treasurer v. Wolinsky, 511 B.R. 34 (N.D.N.Y. 2014) 

A chapter 7 trustee sought to avoid a property tax foreclosure as a fraudulent transfer and then to recover damages from the foreclosing county. The bankruptcy court agreed that the transfer was a fraudulent conveyance, but awarded only about half of the damages requested by the trustee. Both the county treasurer and the trustee appealed.

Reaffirmation agreement becomes effective upon filing with the Court if represented by an attorney and not presumed an undue hardship.  Per the reaffirmation agreement language set out in the Code, “…No court approval is required if your reaffirmation agreement is for a consumer debt secured by a mortgage, deed of trust, security deed, or other lien on your real property, like your home.”  § 524(k)(3)(J)(i)7.

Dishi & Sons v. Bay Condos LLC, 510 B.R. 696 (S.D.N.Y. 2014) –

In approving the sale of a Chapter 11 debtor’s assets, a bankruptcy court found that a tenant of the debtor was entitled to continue in possession of the leased portion of the sold property for the remainder of its lease.  The successful bidder at the sale appealed, arguing that the sale was “free and clear” of the tenant’s interests. 

The recent Eleventh Circuit case of In re Brown, 746 F.3d 1236 (2014) held that 11 U.S.C. § 506(a)(2)'s replacement value standard applies even when a Chapter 7 or 13 debtor surrenders collateral under 11 U.S.C. § 1325(a)(5)(C). The Eleventh Circuit's decision in In re Brown has an important role in how personal property collateral will be valued in Chapter 7 and 13 cases in the Eleventh Circuit and thus its reasoning is important for creditors to understand.

In re Elk Grove Village Petroleum, 510 B.R. 594 (Bankr. N.D. Ill. 2014) –

N. Providence, LLC v. Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co., Inc. (In re Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co., Inc.),510 B.R. 42 (S.D.N.Y. 2014) –

On May 28, 2014, the District Court for the Southern District of New York affirmed an order from the bankruptcy court in Dishi & Sons v. Bay Condos LLC, et al.¹, approving a sale of the Debtor’s assets, but found that the Debtor’s commercial tenant was entitled to remain in possession of the premises for the remainder of the lease at the specified rent.

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.

Amzak Capital Mgmt. v. Stewart Title of Louisiana (In re West Feliciana Acquisition, L.L.C.), 744 F.3d 352 (5th Cir 2014) –

The conflict between sections 363(f) and 365(h) of the Bankruptcy Code involves the question of whether a debtor-le