When a business leases commercial space, it is common practice for the landlord to request that the company provide a personal guaranty, a protective measure taken to ensure landlords have recourse against a commercial lessee...more
With its January opinion in Raymond James & Associates Inc. v. Jalbert, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that the bankruptcy debtor's indemnification obligations were discharged by the confirmed plan...more
When a debtor LLC receives a discharge order from a bankruptcy court, a creditor is prevented from enforcing any preexisting debts against the discharged LLC as a personal liability. This is known as the “discharge...more
The Second Circuit’s recent decision in Bruce v. Citigroup, Inc., 2023 WL 4919496, at *1 (2nd Cir. Aug 2, 2023) appears to be the second Circuit Court of Appeals (joining the Fifth Circuit) to specifically hold that a...more
On March 16, 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a bulletin cautioning loan servicers about their responsibility to stop any illegal activity related to private student loans that have been discharged...more
A somewhat common question that arises after a bankruptcy discharge is granted is whether post-petition liabilities are discharged under pre-petition agreements, like guaranties. To describe the issue in more digestible...more
The recent case of In re Micah Cade McKinney, Case No. 21-50046-rlj-11 (Bankr. N.D. Tex., April 28, 2022) provides insight as to violations of the bankruptcy discharge injunction....more
As we previously noted, the statute of limitations on actions to enforce a note or deed of trust can be a brutally effective sword for borrowers in Washington State. Under the six-year limitations period of RCW 7.28.300, a...more
On January 18, 2021, the Washington Court of Appeals in Copper Creek (Marysville) Homeowners Ass’n v. Kurtz reaffirmed an important rule related to real property foreclosures and the statute of limitations after a bankruptcy...more
On December 9, 2020, Congressional Democrats, including Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), proposed sweeping legislation that would overhaul consumer bankruptcy law. The proposed changes generally make it...more
In Taggart v. Lorenzen, 139 S. Ct. 1795 (June 3, 2019), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a bankruptcy court may hold a creditor in civil contempt for attempting to collect on a debt that has been discharged in bankruptcy "if...more
On January 17, student loan servicer Educational Credit Management Corporation (ECMC) filed a notice of appeal in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, challenging the decision of Chief...more
Recently, the United States Supreme Court in Taggart v. Lorenzen set the legal standard that should be followed by bankruptcy courts when determining whether to hold a creditor in civil contempt for attempting to collect a...more
Many litigants are familiar with the well-settled rule that an affirmative defense will be waived if it is not included in a CPLR 3211(a) motion to dismiss or in the answer (see CPLR 3211[e]). And so, lawyers tasked with...more
On June 3, 2019, Justice Breyer delivered a unanimous opinion of the Supreme Court conclusively establishing the standard courts must apply to hold a creditor in civil contempt for violation of a bankruptcy discharge order....more
In This Issue: Washington District Court Overturns Approval of Third-Party Releases in a Settlement Agreement and Related Free-and-Clear Sale - In In re Fraser’s Boiler Serv., Inc., 2019 WL 1099713 (D. Wash. Mar. 18,...more
On June 3, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Taggart v. Lorenzen, 139 S. Ct. 1795 (2019), that a bankruptcy court may hold a creditor in civil contempt for attempting to collect on a debt that has been discharged in...more
In Taggart v. Lorenzen, the U.S. Supreme Court reviewed the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals' Order, which affirmed the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel's Order vacating civil contempt sanctions against Bradley Taggart's ("Bradley")...more
The United States Supreme Court granted certiorari to determine the applicable legal standard for holding a creditor in civil contempt when a creditor attempts to collect a debt that falls within an issued bankruptcy...more
In the recent decision of Taggart v. Lorenzen, the Supreme Court held that a court may hold a creditor in civil contempt for violating a discharge order if there is no fair ground of doubt as to whether the order barred the...more
When your customer is in bankruptcy, there are two major no-nos that you must remember. First, don't violate the automatic stay, which prevents a creditor from attempting to collect a debt while the debtor is in bankruptcy...more
In a unanimous decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled recently in Taggart v. Lorenzen that a creditor in a bankruptcy case may be held in civil contempt, and subject to sanction, where there is "no fair ground of doubt" about...more
Successful bankruptcy cases typically end with a court order releasing a debtor from liability for most pre-bankruptcy debts. This order, generally known as a “discharge order,” prohibits the debtor’s creditors from trying to...more
The U.S. Supreme Court has established an objective standard for determining whether a creditor should be held in civil contempt when the creditor attempts to collect a debt subject to a bankruptcy discharge order....more
On June 3, 2019, the Supreme Court decided Taggart v. Lorenzen, No. 18-489, holding that a court may hold a creditor in civil contempt for violating a bankruptcy court’s discharge order as long as there is “no fair ground of...more