On Sunday, December 27, 2020, President Trump signed into law the Consolidated Appropriations Act, which provides $900 billion in a second wave of economic stimulus relief for industries and individuals faced with challenges from the COVID-19 coronavirus.
The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 (the CAA), which President Trump signed into law on December 27, 2020, amends several provisions of the Bankruptcy Code. While a number of the amendments are applicable only to small businesses (e.g., businesses eligible to file under the new small-business subchapter of the Bankruptcy Code and/or businesses eligible to receive PPP loans), several others have more general application, as discussed below.
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Amendments of More General Application
Almost 15 years ago, new shale and fracking technology opened areas like North Dakota and Appalachia to significant oil and gas exploration and development, but the advances also created the need for construction of pipelines and related facilities (e.g., gathering, storage, and/or transportation systems) to ensure that oil and gas could be economically moved by interstate transport to markets vital to the U.S. economy.
We have blogged previously about section 546(e), the Bankruptcy Code’s safe harbor for certain transfers otherwise subject to avoidance as preferences or fraudulent transfers. See 11 U.S.C. § 546(e). Among the transfers protected by the section 546(e) safe harbor are transfers by or to a “financial participant” made “in connection with a securities contract.” Id.
When an individual files a Chapter 7 bankruptcy case, the debtor’s non-exempt assets become property of the estate that is used to pay creditors. “Property of the estate” is a defined term under the Bankruptcy Code, so a disputed question in many cases is: What assets are, in fact, available to creditors?
Doing business in the United States
2021
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Hogan Lovells
Doing business in the United States 2021
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Contents
Introduction1
I.Openness of U.S. markets to foreign investment
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II.Direct or indirect market entry and choice of entity
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III. Commercial contracting
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IV.Labor and employment law considerations
26
V.Immigration laws
34
VI.Intellectual property laws
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VII. Export control and economic sanction laws
46
VIII. U.S. antitrust laws
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Frequently, borrowers file for bankruptcy at the 11th hour to halt foreclosure sales. Once a petition for bankruptcy relief has been filed, secured creditors must cease their collection efforts to avoid violating the automatic stay. However, the automatic stay terminates upon a debtor’s dismissal and closure of the bankruptcy case. A Pennsylvania bankruptcy court recently ruled that if a foreclosure sale occurs between the time when a bankruptcy case is dismissed and when it is reinstated, the foreclosure sale is not void and does not violate the automatic stay.
For the past few years, the federal circuit courts have struggled with the issue of whether a creditor retaining possession of bankruptcy estate property violates the automatic stay. For example, is a creditor required to automatically turn over a vehicle as soon as the bankruptcy petition is filed, or can the creditor retain possession of the vehicle while awaiting an order of the bankruptcy court adjudicating turnover in an adversary proceeding?
The United States Supreme Court unanimously reversed the Seventh Circuit and resolved a split among the circuits in a ruling issued on January 14, 2021, concluding “that mere retention of property does not violate the [automatic stay in] § 362(a)(3).” City of Chicago v. Fulton, 19-357 (Sup. Ct., Jan. 14, 2021). Consequently, a creditor that has properly repossessed or otherwise obtained possession of a debtor’s property prior to the debtor’s bankruptcy filing will not violate the automatic stay afforded to the debtor under the bankruptcy laws.