In Kendrick v. Deutsche National Trust Company (In re Saint Clair), 380 B.R. 478 (B.A.P. 6th Cir. Jan. 16, 2008), the Chapter 7 Trustee appealed the decision of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky to the Sixth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel (“BAP”). The issue on appeal was whether summary judgment was warranted against the Appellee-Mortgagor (“Mortgagor”) on the Appellant- Trustee’s (“Trustee”) complaint seeking to avoid a mortgage on the Debtors’ real property. 

One of the significant changes brought about by the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 ("BAPCPA") was the treatment of loans secured by automobiles in Chapter 13 cases. Prior to BAPCPA, debtors were permitted to "cram down" the secured portions of automobile loans to the fair market value of the collateral. This often resulted in significant reductions to claims secured by automobiles.

A recent ruling in the Delphi Corporation, et al. ("Delphi") bankruptcy case calls into question the effectiveness of power of attorney provisions found in many claim purchase agreements. Specifically, on February 26, 2008, United States Bankruptcy Judge Robert D. Drain, presiding over the Delphi bankruptcy proceeding, held that claims purchasers could not submit cure notices in reliance on powers of attorney.

Delphi Sent Cure Notices Only to Contract Counterparties

On March 26, 2008, the United States Supreme Court heard oral argument in the case of State of Florida Department of Revenue v. Piccadilly Cafeterias, Inc. to consider the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit's ruling that a bankruptcy court may exempt certain state and local taxes in a sale approved prior to confirmation of a chapter 11 plan under § 1146(c) of the Bankruptcy Code.

Introduction

Section 1146(a) (formerly, and for the purposes of this case § 1146(c)) of the Bankruptcy Code provides:

In Geygan v. World Savings Bank, FSB, 2008 FED App. 0005P (6th Cir. B.A.P. Mar. 12, 2008), the Sixth Circuit BAP affirmed the bankruptcy court, holding that the mortgage’s certificate of acknowledgment, which included the phrase “witness my hand” next to the notary’s signature, did not comply with Ohio law, and that the Trustee was a bona fide purchaser pursuant to the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. 

In a May 23, 2008 decision, the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware ruled that BBB-rated mortgage-backed notes are eligible for the Bankruptcy Code's repurchase agreement safe harbor as “interests in mortgage loans”. The court also held that a repurchase agreement constituted a sale, as opposed to a financing governed by UCC Article 9 -- the first decision on this topic since the financial contract safe harbors were expanded under the 2005 amendments to the Bankruptcy Code.

In re Bryan Road, LLC, 2008 WL 376773 (Bankr. S.D. Fla. 2008), the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida concluded on February 12, 2008, that a borrower could and did waive the protections of the Bankruptcy Code’s automatic stay in a pre-bankruptcy workout agreement with its lender and thus lifted the stay to enable the lender to hold a foreclosure sale.

Customers dealing with troubled automotive suppliers often decide to resource production to other suppliers rather than facilitate a true restructuring of the troubled supplier's business. Such resourcing, however, generally cannot be done overnight. Tier 1 suppliers or original equipment manufacturers ("OEMs") often take months to resource production. Because of the "just in time" production process, Tier 1 suppliers and OEMs often cannot afford to be without component parts or tooling for the period of time that it may take to resource.

In response to the increasing complexity of cross-border restructurings and liquidations, a new chapter (Chapter 15) was added to the US Bankruptcy Code in 2005. Chapter 15 is meant to provide a framework for effectively and efficiently dealing with cross-border insolvency proceedings involving the United States by providing the representative of a foreign insolvency case with certain benefits and protections.

Directors and officers of troubled companies are already keenly cognizant of their potential liability for any breaches of fiduciary duty, negligence and fraud.