The Court of Appeals of Tennessee confirmed that an equipment lessor is entitled to enforce the “hell or high water” provision of an equipment lease.  

The Ninth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel has held that a finance company did not have a perfected security interest in equipment lease payment pools assigned to it because neither the assignee, nor the assignor with which it had contracted, filed the appropriate UCC financing statements.  

A federal bankruptcy imposed sanctions against two mortgage companies and their attorneys for making misrepresentations as to which party was the true holder of the mortgage and note. Decisions such as the one in In re Nosek resonate with particular significance as the mortgage crisis continues to have widespread ramifications.  

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has determined that a bankruptcy court may withdraw the derivative standing conferred on a statutory committee without that committee’s consent. Official Comm. of Equity Sec. Holders of Adelphia Communications Corp. v. Official Comm. of Unsecured Creditors of Adelphia Communications Corp. (In re Adelphia Communications Corp.), 544 F.3d 429 (2d Cir. 2008).  

The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has issued a decision that provides an important summary concerning the circumstances under which state law causes of action asserted between nondebtor parties are sufficiently interconnected with claims brought against a debtor to be considered “core proceedings,” which may be determined as part of a bankruptcy case. In re Exide Technologies, 544 F.3d 196 (3d. Cir. 2008).  

Last year, the Ninth Circuit BAP determined that the Bankruptcy Code does not permit a secured creditor to credit bid its debt, and purchase estate property free and clear of non-consenting junior liens, outside a plan of reorganization. Uncertainty resulting from the decision in Clear Channel Outdoor, Inc. v. Nancy Knupfer (In re PW, LLC), 391 B.R. 25 (9th Cir. B.A.P. 2008) may chill bidding and asset sales in the Ninth Circuit.

In a case that has broad implications for trustees and taxing authorities embroiled in preference avoidance actions, the Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Missouri weighed in on the parameters of a trustee’s ability to avoid preferential sales and use tax payments under section 547 of the Bankruptcy Code.  

Overdue Tax Payments

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled in October that a creditor’s misconduct must result in harm to other creditors to justify the equitable subordination of a claim under Section 510(c) of the Bankruptcy Code.  

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has held that a nondischargeable debt for malicious and willful injury must include proof of tortious conduct. An intentional breach of contract does not suffice.  

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