Occasionally we find a bankruptcy case that we know will be of interest to lenders, and this is one of them. I’m calling this one a “two-step” not just because it makes for a catchy title, but also because this is the second time we’ve seen this case, and this time the outcome is less favorable.

The U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision on May 29, 2012, finding that a chapter 11 bankruptcy plan of liquidation is not confirmable over a secured lender’s objection if such plan prohibits the lender from credit bidding at a sale of its collateral.¹ See RadLAX Gateway Hotel, LLC et al. v. Amalgamated Bank, No. 11-166, 566 U.S. ___ (2012).

The United States Supreme Court, in the case of Radlax Gateway Hotel, LLC v. Amalgamated Bank (“Radlax”), ruled that secured creditors have the same right to credit bid in collateral sales under a plan of reorganization as they do in sales under Section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code (“Section 363 Sales”).

Whether a secured creditor has an absolute right to credit bid at a sale under a chapter 11 plan has been the subject of conflicting decisions rendered by the Third, Fifth and Seventh Circuits.¹ The United States Supreme Court has resolved these inconsistent rulings with its decision in RadLAX Gateway Hotel, LLC, et al., v. Amalgamated Bank, ² which affirmed the Seventh Circuit’s holding that a secured creditor has an absolute right to credit bid in a sale under a chapter 11 plan.

In Radlax Gateway Hotel, LLC v.

On May 29, 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, resolved a high-profile circuit split regarding the right of secured creditors to credit bid in an asset sale under a chapter 11 plan. In RadLAX Gateway Hotel, LLC v. Amalgamated Bank,¹ the Court held that a debtor cannot deny a secured creditor the right to credit bid as part of a chapter 11 plan providing for the sale of assets free and clear of the secured creditor’s liens on those assets.

On May 29, 2012, the Supreme Court of the United States, in the chapter 11 cases of RadLAX Gateway Hotel, LLC, and RadLAX Gateway Deck, LLC (the “RadLAX Cases”)¹ held by a vote of 8-0² that a chapter 11 plan cannot be confirmed if the plan (i) is rejected by a class of secured claims, (ii) provides for the sale of collateral free and clear of liens securing such claims, and (iii) deprives the holders of such claims of the right to credit bid at the sale of collateral.  

On May 29, 2012 the United States Supreme Court ruled that a plan of reorganization may not be confirmed over the objection of a secured creditor if the plan provides for the sale of collateral free and clear of the creditor’s lien, but does not permit the creditor to credit bid at the sale. The ruling resolved a conflict between a decision from Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, which denied confirmation of such a plan, and decisions from the Third and Fifth Circuit Courts of Appeal, which approved such plans.

The United States Supreme Court emphatically upheld a secured creditor’s right to credit bid in bankruptcy cases. In RadLAX Gateway Hotel, et al. v. Amalgamated Bank, 566 U.S.___ (May 29, 2012), the Court found the case an "easy" one to resolve: when a secured creditor is denied the right to credit bid its debt in the sale of its collateral as a part of a bankruptcy plan, it will not receive the "indubitable equivalent" of its secured claim in the form of cash generated from the sale. The Court's unanimous decision should help restore certainty in lending.

On May 25, 2012, Residential Capital LLC (“ResCap”) filed a complaint in United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York seeking declaratory and injunctive relief to extend the automatic stay over 27 MBS lawsuits against it, its affiliates, and its executives while it undergoes bankruptcy restructuring.  ResCap alleges that all of the lawsuits against its non-debtor affiliates are inextricably connected to the debtor affiliates, and that such lawsuits will drain the debtors’ estates by forcing those entities to undergo extensive discovery and face significant indem