The Bankruptcy Law Firm, Prof. Corp.
In re Claar Cellars LLC, ___BR___ (Bankr. E.D. Wash. Jan. 14, 2021), case No. 20-00044
Bky Ct Washington decision refused to confirm a debtor’s proposed chapter 11 plan that promised to pay creditors 100% in 5 years, but lacked specifics to prove that was going to happen. In addition, debtor’s proposed plan had the problem of providing for “de facto” third party release, has discussion of Blixeth 9th Cir decision limited circumstances where a plan can release a non-debtor third party, without consent of creditors. Detail as reported by ABI (American Bankruptcy Institute): Debtor’s ch11 plan Promising Payment in Full to Everyone Doesn’t Warrant Confirmation by Itself, and there was a competing creditor proposed ch…
Famous People Who Have Filed Bankruptcy
Credit & collection newsletter of 1/13/21 reports on famous people who have filed bankruptcy. Here is one report: Movie director Francis Ford Coppola filed for his second bankruptcy case in 1992, with assets listed at $52 million and liabilities at $98 million, according to the New York Times. He blamed the majority of his debt on the failure of the movie “One From The Heart,” which cost $27 million to film but earned only $4 million.
Rodriguez v. Mukamal, ___BR___ (US District Court, SD Fla Oct. 1, 2020), case number 20-50583
US District Court affirmed US Bankruptcy Court decision, to hold that the bankruptcy debtors (who voluntarily converted their chapter 13 bankruptcy case to chapter 7) could not claim a homestead exemption in a home they did not own on the date they filed their Chapter 13 bankruptcy case, even though they did own the home (which they inherited) on the date they converted their Chapter 13 case to Chapter 7. Detail: US District Court, SD Florida, held Chapter 13 debtors lost an exemption they claimed in a home they inherited, when they converted their Chapter 13 case to Chapter 7,…
America Bankruptcy Institute (“ABI”) summarizes New Bankruptcy Relief Provisions, that are contained in the 2021 Federal Appropriations Act
The new Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 (the “Act”), which was signed into law on Dec. 27, 2020 (H.R. 133), includes within its 5,593 pages a number of new bankruptcy relief provisions for businesses as part of what the legislation calls the Economic Aid to Hard-Hit Small Businesses, Nonprofits, and Venues Act. Additional bankruptcy relief provisions are found in a miscellaneous section of the Act. A summary of the relief provisions (including PPP loans becoming available to certain debtors, treatment of commercial real estate leases and preference amendments). Here is a summary of the relief provisions that will affect businesses,…
More Than Half of Emergency Small-Business Funds Went to Larger Businesses, New Data Shows
More than half of the money from the Treasury Department’s coronavirus emergency fund for small businesses went to just 5 percent of the recipients, according to data on more than 5 million loans that was released by the government yesterday evening in response to a Freedom of Information Act request and lawsuit, the Washington Post, on 12/2/20, reported.
On 12/17/20, the American Bankruptcy Institute (“ABI”) reports that US Congress and White House Race to Finish $900 Billion Covid-19 Aid Package
US House and Senate, and the White House face a rapidly approaching deadline to wrap up negotiations on another coronavirus relief bill, racing today to complete the details of the roughly $900 billion package and pass it through Congress before the end of the week, the Wall Street Journal reported. Top Republicans and Democrats are closing in on a relief package that would send another direct check to many Americans, enhance unemployment benefits, provide aid to small businesses and fund the distribution of the Covid-19 vaccine, among other measures. Because they are planning to approve a relief bill alongside a…
American Bankruptcy Institute on 11/25/20 published the following UPDATE ON PROPOSED EXTENSION OF THE PPP LOAN PROGRAM
With a change in administration likely within the next two months, and Congress scrambling to agree on another rescue package for millions of Americans facing yet more pandemic related economic hardship as many of the government subsidies and stimulus plans are set to expire the end of December, Senators Rubio and Collins have revamped S. 4321 initially introduced on July 27, 2020 (“Initial Proposed PPP III Legislation”),1 which would (finally) make the Payroll Protection Program loans (“PPP Loans”) available to debtors in bankruptcy. The PPP expired in early August 2020, and S. 4321 became bogged down in neverending partisan politics,…
Manikan v. Peters & Freedman, L.L.P, ___F.3d___, 2020 WL 6938318 (9th Cir. 11/25/20)
Manikan v. Peters & Freedman, L.L.P, ___F.3d___, 2020 WL 6938318 (9th Cir. 11/25/20): Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on the interplay between two federal statutes, the Bankruptcy Code (Code) and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). The Ninth Circuit ruled that its prior precedent establishing contempt as the exclusive remedy for discharge injunction violations did not preclude a discharged debtor from seeking a remedy under the FDCPA against debt collectors who attempted to collect a discharged debt which had been paid in full.
Wells Fargo Bank N.A. v. Mahogany Meadows Ave. Trust, ___ F3d ___ (9th Circuit Ct of Appeals; Nov. 5, 2020)
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Allows HOA lien to extinguishes senior DOT lender’s lien on condo, But only because senior DOT lender (Wells Fargo) Failed to Object. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision allows a tiny HOA lien for unpaid HOA assessments, to wipe out a big mortgage if the bank wasn’t vigilant at the time of foreclosure. For the second time in a week, we report a decision where the Ninth Circuit had no sympathy for a lender who was asleep at the switch and woke up to find its mortgage wiped out. This time, the San Francisco-based appeals…
US v. Allahyari, ___F.3d.___, 2020 DAR p12125 (9th Cir. 2020)
US v. Allahyari, ___F.3d.___, 2020 DAR p12125 (9th Cir. 2020): US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed US District Court. 9th Circuit held US District Court erred in holding that defendant’s 2005 deed of trust was not entitled to priority over later-recorded federal tax liens. That should have been obvious to US District Court, since the general rule is that earlier recorded lien has priority over later recorded lien.