In Re Loucheschi LLC, 471 B.R. 777 (Bankr. D. Mass 2012) –
When a lender makes a loan that does not comply with usury laws it runs a risk that not only will interest and charges be disallowed, but also the entire loan may be declared void. In cases where declaring a usurious loan void is discretionary, one might expect a bankruptcy court to be inclined to do so since it could benefit the bankruptcy estate.
On August 2, 2012, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued its decision in Lightfoot v. MXEnergy Elec., Inc. (In re MBS Mgmt. Servs., Inc.), Case No. 11-30553 (5th Cir. 2012), holding that a real estate management company’s electricity supply contract qualified as a “forward contract”, payments on account of which are protected from avoidance as preferential transfers under the Bankruptcy Code’s “safe harbor” provisions.
In the Summer 2009 issue of the Legal Canvas, we wrote about the wisdom of filing a UCC financing statement when art work is consigned to a gallery. Specifically, we said that the filing of a financing statement that reflects the consignor’s interest in the work provides protection against the gallery’s creditors. Financing statements take no time to prepare and cost less than $50 to file.
It could be money well spent.
A Georgia bankruptcy court has held that notwithstanding the discharge of an individual in his individual bankruptcy proceeding, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) may file suit against the individual as a former officer of a failed bank so long as the applicable D&O policy covers defense costs and the FDIC’s recovery is limited to insurance proceeds. In re Hayden, 2012 WL 3597422 (Bankr. N.D. Ga. July 6, 2012).
Pursuant to Bankruptcy Code § 363(f), a bankruptcy judge may authorize the sale of a debtor’s assets free and clear of liens, claims, and interests. This is meant to allow a buyer to acquire assets without the risk of future claims being asserted with respect to the purchased assets and to maximize the value of a debtors assets, thereby maximizing creditors' recovery.
In a recent decision authored by Chief Judge Easterbrook, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (Sunbeam Products, Inc. v. Chicago American Manufacturing, LLC, Docket No. 11-3920 (7th Cir. July 9, 2012)) held that the licensee of a trademark does not necessarily lose the right to use the licensed marks when a debtor-licensor rejects the underlying license agreement in its bankruptcy case. In so holding, the Court rejected a contrary decision reached by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Lubrizol Enterprises, Inc. v.
This article is Part Two in a seven-part series on how to structure sales and what to do when your customer fails to pay. You can find Part One of this series here: Structuring Sales to Ensure Payment. Please subscribe to this blog by entering your email in the box on the left, or check back weekly for additional articles in the series.
Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 3003(c)(3) provides that "the [bankruptcy] court shall fix and for cause shown may extend the time within which proofs of claim or interest may be filed." For various reasons, creditors sometimes miss the claims "bar date" and need to seek permission from the court to file a late filed claim or deem the late-filed claim allowed. In order to succeed, the creditor must convince the court that the late claim was the result of excusable neglect. In re Garden Ridge Corp., 348 B.R. 642, 645 (Bankr. D. Del.
On August 20th, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit reversed a trial court's ruling finding that judgments against Ponzi scheme "net gainers" were non-dischargeable in bankruptcy. The debtors were early investors in what turned out to be a Ponzi scheme and received more money than they invested. When the Ponzi scheme was uncovered, the state State of Oklahoma sued the debtors for unjust enrichment but not for any securities violations. After the State obtained a judgment on the unjust enrichment claim, the debtors declared bankruptcy.