Summary

In a 13 page decision signed, April 11, 2011, Judge Carey of the Delaware Bankruptcy Court granted a motion disallowing a creditor’s late-filed bankruptcy claim, and held that if there is no legal requirement that a party respond to an affidavit, a lack of response does not bind a party to that affidavit nor can it be considered an admission by that party. Judge Carey’s opinion is available here.

Background

Washington Governor Christine Gregoire has signed into law a series of changes to the state Receivership Act that will make it easier (and possibly cheaper) for creditors to utilize the Receivership Act as a tool to resolve troubled loan situations with their borrowers. The revisions will become effective 90 days after the Legislature adjourns, making July 24, 2011, the likely effective date. The changes clarify a number of points that previously puzzled both judges and practitioners.

Creditors' Rights

In Hardesty v. CitiFinancial, Inc.,1 the Sixth Circuit affirmed the bankruptcy court’s denial of the trustee’s request to avoid the debtors’ mortgages with the creditor based on allegedly defective certificates of acknowledgement in the mortgage documents under Ohio law.

The latest numbers on bankruptcy filings in 2010 have been released, and 1.53 million Americans filed for bankruptcy protection last year, an increase of 9% over 2009’s figures. This number is the highest number of bankruptcy filings since the passage of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act (BAPCPA) became law in 2005. In that year, 2 million Americans filed bankruptcy in order to file before BAPCPA’s restrictions on bankruptcy filings took effect.  

In re Passarella, 2011 Bankr. LEXIS 53 (2011)

The United States District Court for the Northern District of California, applying California law, has granted summary judgment in favor of a bankruptcy plan administrator for the estate of an insured, holding that the plan administrator is entitled to recover premiums paid to an insurer after the insurer rescinded the policy. In re SONICblue Inc., 2011 WL 839401 (N.D. Cal. Mar. 4, 2011). The court also held that the insurer is entitled to reimbursement for defense costs paid to the insured prior to the policy’s rescission.

The Delaware federal district court issued an order directing the district’s bankruptcy court to determine whether an adversary proceeding constituted a “core” proceeding. PRS Insurance Group commenced a chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings in 2001. Thereafter, the trustee appointed filed suit in Ohio against Westchester Fire Insurance Company and ACE INA Holding for breach of two reinsurance agreements and bad faith refusal to pay claims.

In re Innkeepers USA Trust, et al., -- B.R. --, 2011 WL 1206173 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. 2011)

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On April 21st, the Federal Reserve Board requested comment on two bankruptcy-related studies. The Dodd-Frank Act requires the Federal Reserve Board to study the resolution of financial companies under Chapter 7 or Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. The Dodd-Frank Act also requires the Federal Reserve Board to study international coordination of the resolution of systemically important financial companies under the Bankruptcy Code and applicable foreign law.