Below are five key takeaways from our first month of Bradley’s Bankruptcy Basics:
In January 2020 we reported that, after the reconsideration suggested by two Supreme Court justices and revisions to account for the Supreme Court’s Merit Management decision,[1] the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit stood by its origina
Bankruptcy Code Section 523(a)(2)(A) Dischargeability Cannot be Based on Oral Fraudulent Misrepresentation “Respecting the Debtor’s Financial Condition”
The recently enacted Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA) contains important temporary amendments to Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, including several that impact both landlords and tenants under commercial real estate leases.
Small-business debtors can seek an additional extension of time to pay rent
In February 2020, just prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, the Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019 (Subchapter V) took effect.[1] Subchapter V amends Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code to allow certain individuals and businesses with debts of less than $2,725,625 to file a streamlined Chapter 11 case with the goal to make small business bankruptcies faster and cheaper.[2]
The Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019 (“SBRA”) took effect in February 2020. The SBRA gives small businesses new forms of bankruptcy relief that were not previously available to them under federal law, including the ability for business owners to retain ownership of their businesses without first paying their creditors in full.
Although debtors who file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy generally cannot pay prepetition debts until a plan which complies with the “absolute priority rule” is confirmed, there are a number of now well-established exceptions to this rule.
As we cross the one-year anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic, we reflect on the multiple amendments to the Bankruptcy Code that have been implemented to help curb the effects of various economic shutdowns and financial hardships caused by the coronavirus. These Bankruptcy Code amendments are only temporary, but Congress is considering extending them to facilitate the continued recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Below are five significant, though temporary, amendments to the Bankruptcy Code resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.
It’s rare for a debtor in bankruptcy to raise allegations of involuntary servitude and a violation of the Thirteenth Amendment. But one debtor did just that after a chapter 11 trustee was appointed to take over the debtor’s bankruptcy estate. The debtor alleged the constitutional violation on the ground that he would be involuntarily forced to work for his creditors.
In its recent decision in Matter of First River Energy, LLC,1 the Fifth Circuit resolved a priority dispute between lienholders regarding their competing claims to cash held by the debtor, First River Energ