Certain amendments to the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure, which became effective on December 1, 2017, impose affirmative obligations on secured creditors to protect the right to distribution in a bankruptcy case. Specifically, Rule 3002(a) now requires a secured creditor to file a proof of claim in order to gain allowance for a secured claim.

Bankruptcy courts lack the power to impose serious punitive sanctions, a federal district judge ruled recently in PHH Mortgage Corporation v. Sensenich, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 207801 (D. Vt. Dec. 18, 2018). Judge Geoffrey Crawford reversed a bankruptcy judge’s ruling that had imposed sanctions against a creditor based on Rule 3002.1(i) of the Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure, the bankruptcy court’s inherent authority, and Bankruptcy Code section 105.

When a person takes an action against an individual debtor in bankruptcy in violation of the automatic stay imposed under Section 362(a) the debtor is entitled to recover damages under Section 362(k)(1) to include costs and attorneys’ fees. An issue regarding the extent of damages to be recovered has centered on whether the fees that shall be awarded are limited to those incurred in ending the stay violation, or if they also include the fees incurred in pursuing the damage award, including defending the award on appeal.

On 14 December 2017, the Serbian Parliament adopted amendments to the Bankruptcy Law aimed at, among other things, shortening the bankruptcy procedure and improving settlement of the bankruptcy and secured creditors’ claims. The relevant novelties are harmonized with the Strategy for Resolving Non-Performing Loans, which was adopted by the Serbian Government back in 2015. The amendments came into force on 25 December 2017.

Rentech WP U.S., Inc. (NASDAQ: RTKH) and an affiliate have filed chapter 11 petitions before the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (Lead Case No. 17-12958). The cases have been assigned to the Honorable Christopher S. Sontchi. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, Fulghum Fibres, Rentech offers a full range of integrated fibre services including, wood chipping, operations, marketing, trading and vessel loading.

Amendment to Bankruptcy Rule 3002

Certain amendments to the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure (the “Bankruptcy Rules”) will become effective in all cases commencing after December 1, 2017.1

The amendment to Bankruptcy Rule 3002 is significant. As explained in detail below, the amendment does the following:

A recent decision from a trial court sitting in Illinois calls into question whether debt collectors can rely on a widely used disclosure when collecting debt that may be subject to an expired limitations period.

A copy of the opinion in Richardson v. LVNV Funding, LLC is available at:  Link to Opinion.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently held that, following the confirmation of a foreclosure sale in Illinois, the only remedy available to a borrower under 15 U.S.C. § 1635 was damages, and therefore the one-year limitation period under 15 U.S.C. § 1640(e) applied and his claims were barred despite the fact that he provided rescission notices within three years of the loan closing, and despite the fact that the parties engaged in back-and-forth communications after the demands were first sent.

Dextera Surgical Inc. (NASDAQ: DXTR), a designer and manufacturer of surgical devices based in Redwood City, CA, has filed a petition for relief under Chapter 11 in the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (Case No. 17-12913). The Petition estimates that Dextera has $10 – $50 million in both assets and liabilities.

The United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin recently held that a creditor did not perfect its security interest in the debtor’s property because the creditor inadvertently included a space in the debtor’s name in its UCC financing statement. SeeUnited States Sec. & Exch. Comm’n v. ISC, Inc., 2017 WL 3736796 (W.D. Wis. 2017). In the case, the creditor filed a UCC financing statement with the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions (“DFI”) regarding an interest it had in certain assets of the debtor, ISC, Inc.