The Bankruptcy Law Firm, Prof. Corp.
U.S. Sees Highest Large-Company Bankruptcies In 15 Years With 446 Filings:
Credit & Collection e-newsletter of 8/21/25 reports that the United States has recorded 446 large company bankruptcy filings in the first seven months of 2025, the highest year-to-date total in 15 years. The tally, compiled by the Kobeissi Letter and S&P Global Market Intelligence, represents a 12% increase above levels seen during the 2020 pandemic year. Per the Kobeissi Letter, the number of bankruptcies has already surpassed full-year totals for 2021 and 2022, when 405 and 373 firms, respectively, filed for court protection. More data shows that July alone accounted for 71 bankruptcies, up from 66 in June, and the…
Hayes v. United States of America (In re Applied Machinery Rentals, LLC)
Hayes v. United States of America (In re Applied Machinery Rentals, LLC), 2025 WL 1297432 (April 30, 2025, Bankruptcy Ct, Western District of North Carolina ): The Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of North Carolina (the Court) recently ruled that a chapter 7 trustee could use Bankruptcy Code §§ 548 and 550 to recover from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) taxes which had been paid on behalf of the Debtor’s principal with property of the estate. It held that the IRS was the initial transferee even though the payment came from a bank account in the principal’s name and…
Brown v. Thermal Surgical LLC, 24-127 (2d Cir. Aug. 8, 2025)
US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit barred offensive use of claim preclusion based on ‘fairness’ , and hinted that offensive claim preclusion might never be permitted. Second Circuit held that a creditor may not use an uncontested claim allowance in an offensive use of claim preclusion if it would be “unfair.” In her August 8 opinion, Circuit Judge Beth Robinson stopped short of deciding whether offensive claim preclusion is never permissible. If offensive claim preclusion were squarely present, she hinted that it might never be allowed. Uncontested Claim Allowance The debtor had been a sales representative for his…
Americans are carrying a record amount of household debt
FOX Business’ Gerri Willis reports on the alleged ‘out-of-control’ costs associated with going back to school and how much families may expect to spend this year. Americans are increasingly turning to their credit cards to cover everyday expenses, with debt hitting a new record high at the end of June, according to a New York Federal Reserve report published Tuesday.
Americans Owe A Record $1.14 Trillion Dollars In Credit Card Debt [as reported in 8/15/25 Credit & Collection e-newletter]
In the three-month period from April to June, total credit card debt rose to $1.14 trillion, an increase of $27 billion, or about 1%, from the previous quarter, according to the report. It marks the highest level on record in Fed data dating back to 2003. Credit card delinquencies continued to rise from their pre-pandemic levels in the second quarter. As of June, about 9.1% of outstanding credit card debt was in some stage of delinquency, up from 8.5% the previous quarter. The rise in credit card usage and debt is particularly concerning because interest rates are astronomically high right…
American Bankruptcy Institute (“ABI”) e-newsletter, of 8/5/25, reports that July 2025 Commercial Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Filings Increased 78 Percent over Last Year (2024)
Commercial chapter 11 filings totaled 911 in July, an increase of 78 percent over the 512 filings in July 2024, according to data provided by Epiq AACER, the leading provider of U.S. bankruptcy filing data. The overall July commercial filing total of 2,997 represented a 26 percent increase from the July 2024 commercial filing total of 2,371. Small business filings, captured as subchapter V elections within chapter 11, increased 30 percent to 206 in July 2025 from 159 the previous year.
National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys (“NACBA”) Applauds Introduction of H.R. 4444 (Titled: “The Student Loan Bankruptcy Improvement Act of 2025”) in the US House of Representatives
7/18/25 National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys (“NACBA”) Applauds Introduction of H.R. 4444 (Titled: “The Student Loan Bankruptcy Improvement Act of 2025”) in the US House of Representatives, which proposes to make more bankruptcy debtors eligible to discharge their student loans in bankruptcy: Washington, D.C. — The National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys (NACBA) proudly announces its strong support for H.R. 4444, the Student Loan Bankruptcy Improvement Act of 2025, introduced by Congressman J. Luis Correa (CA-46). This vital legislation takes long-overdue action to restore fairness and access to justice for millions of Americans burdened by student loan debt. For…
Biden-Era Rule on Medical Bill Reporting on Credit Reports
Credit & Collection e-newsletter of 7/16/25 reports: A US District Court Judge Sean Jordan’s ruling, on 7/15/25, that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) does not have the authority to enact a Biden-era rule on medical bill reporting on credit reports, could force individual states to take up the issue of whether credit reporting agencies (Experiean, Equifax, TransUnion) can be forced to remove reporting about unpaid medical bills from individuals’ credit reports, or can be forced not to put reporting about unpaid medical bills on individuals’ credit reports. U.S. District Judge Sean Jordan, a 2019 appointee of President Donald Trump,…
US Supreme Court’s decision in Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Juan, Puerto Rico v. Acevedo Feliciano, Doesn’t Preclude Annulling the Stay, Eleventh Circuit Says; there is a Circuit Split on this issue
On an issue where the lower courts are split, the Eleventh Circuit held that the Supreme Court’s decision in Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Juan, Puerto Rico v. Acevedo Feliciano, 589 U.S. 57 (2020), does not prevent bankruptcy courts from annulling the automatic stay under Section 362(d)(1). In Acevedo, the Supreme Court strictly limited the ability of federal courts to enter orders nunc pro tunc. In his July 8 opinion, Chief Circuit Judge William H. Pryor, Jr., adopted the position taken by the Ninth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel in a 2020 opinion by Bankruptcy Judge William J. Lafferty, III. In…
In re GOL Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes SA, 225-4610 (S.D.N.Y. June 5, 2025)
The Office of US Trustee has already appealed the following US District Court, New York decision– In re GOL Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes SA, 225-4610 (S.D.N.Y. June 5, 2025)– to the US Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, to test the question of, whether after the US Supreme Court Purdue Pharma decision a chapter 11 plan can provide non-debtors get releases, unless creditors OPT OUT, of that provision, instead of NO non-debtor releases, unless creditors Opt-In (ie affirmatively agree to non-debtors being granted releases. The debtor agreed not to raise equitable mootness on an appeal only challenging nondebtor opt-out releases.…