We have previously discussed default-rate interest and late fees in connection with a secured creditor’s claim. Can a secured creditor choose to waive one in favor of the other if both are not available? And when is a secured creditor entitled to default-rate interest in the first place
“Dream the impossible dream; eat the impossible sundae…” So the song goes – or rather, went – at The Show Place Ice Cream Parlour in Beach Haven, New Jersey. Sadly, The Show Place and the adjoining Surflight Theatre have closed their doors and will be liquidating their assets in chapter 7. The authors have fond memories of shows at the Surflight and family outings to The Show Place, and we are now in the unenviable position of wishing the institution a melancholy happy trails. So for this installment of Bankruptcy Beach Reading, we take you to Long Beach Island, New
A. Where We Left Off
Your tenant files for bankruptcy-what’s your move? Debtors who are lessees under real property leases have certain rights regarding their lease under § 365 of the Bankruptcy Code. Essentially, the debtor has two options: 1) reject the lease or 2) assume the lease, provided that the debtor can cure any defaults existing under the lease. Additionally, the debtor may have the right to assume and assign the lease to a third party.
In the bankruptcy context, effectively appealing an order confirming a debtor’s plan of reorganization is not always a sure bet, as a court may refuse to entertain the appeal in the name of equitable mootness. Equitable mootness – “a judge-made abstention doctrine that allows a court to avoid hearing the merits of a bankruptcy appeal because implementing the requested relief would cause havoc”
In re RML Dev., Inc., 528 B.R. 150 (Bankr. W.D. Tenn. 2014) –
A mortgagee sought to modify a sale order to (1) modify the bid procedures and (2) confirm that it had a right to credit bid.
Last week, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a decision by the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York in In re TPG Troy, LLC, 2015 U.S. App.
Setoff is commonly encountered in bankruptcy and non-bankruptcy situations. If there are mutual debts between two entities, either may generally offset the debts. These debts frequently arise where one entity is a vendor to a customer and selling on credit, and at the same time is also making occasional purchases on credit from the customer. If one entity owes $100 to a second entity but is owed $300 by this second entity, these mutual debts may be offset, leaving just the $200 owed by the second entity.
The United States Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for the Eighth Circuit recently held that filing a proof of claim on a time-barred debt is not, alone, a prohibited debt collection practice under the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
A copy of the opinion is available at: Link to Opinion.