Mezzanine Lending Video Series (Episode 1)
Advancing Agriculture: Security Interests and Article 9 Challenges (Part 1)
Suppose you have made a loan and your collateral includes a lien on receivables or inventory. If your borrower files Chapter 11, you are in danger of your collateral disappearing during the Chapter 11 case. Here's how....more
When a company enters bankruptcy, its assets are often sold to the highest or best bid. Secured lenders — those who have perfected liens on the company's assets — have a unique advantage under Section 363(k) of the Bankruptcy...more
Trade creditors are usually grouped with “general unsecured creditors” in bankruptcy, but some have liens that can elevate their claim priority. To achieve this, the lien must be properly granted and perfected under...more
In Chapter 11, value is king. Secured creditors have rights in proportion to the value of their collateral. When a secured creditor and the debtor can't agree on value, appraisals and appraiser testimony become...more
For creditors dealing with debtors in the shadow of bankruptcy, a common scenario repeats itself. The creditor repossesses collateral, attaches an account, or sets off a bank account, and then the debtor files a...more
It is well recognized that, in keeping with the "fresh start" or "rehabilitative" policy, the Bankruptcy Code invalidates after-acquired property clauses in prepetition security agreements, but also includes an exception to...more
It seems that every few years, we experience an unprecedented event that significantly affects the world. From a once-in-a-generation recession to a once-in-a-century pandemic, trade creditors and inventory lenders constantly...more
Last October we highlighted an important ruling issued in September 2019 by the Seventh Circuit in the bankruptcy proceeding of In re I80 Equipment, LLC. The Circuit Court in that case reversed a decision from the lower...more
Last year, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of Illinois determined in In re I80 Equipment, LLC that a financing statement which referenced a description of the collateral, but did not contain or attach the...more
On June 19, 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (the “Court”) issued a decision concerning the distribution of collateral under an intercreditor agreement—finding that adequate protection payments and plan...more
On May 8, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Missouri in In re 8760 Service Group held that a creditor had a first-priority interest in certain collateral of a debtor, before a subsequent creditor, despite...more
In First Southern Nat’l Bank v. Sunnyslope Hous. LP (In re Sunnyslope Hous. LP), 2017 BL 216965 (9th Cir. June 23, 2017), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held en banc that, in determining whether a chapter 11...more
The "Devil's Dictionary" is a quick-reference guide for commercial lenders and other restructuring professionals. In this series, we highlight many of the buzz words found in the Dictionary and used in today's bankruptcy...more
If a lender is fully secured, can it just ignore suspicions of borrower misconduct? The danger is that a lender could lose its collateral under these circumstances and be treated as an unsecured creditor. This is exactly...more
You are a creditor and your loan is secured by personal property, let’s say equipment. The borrower recently filed for bankruptcy protection. You receive a phone call from a friend advising you that someone has a moving...more
On March 11, 2016, Judge Christopher Sontchi of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware issued an opinion in the Energy Future Holdings bankruptcy that resolved an intercreditor dispute over $90 million in...more
In the case of Domistyle, Inc., 14-41463 (5th Cir. Dec. 29, 2015), the United States Court of Appeal for the Fifth Circuit affirmed an order of the bankruptcy court requiring a secured creditor to reimburse the trustee for...more
Intellectual property (“IP”) can act as collateral to be pledged to secure an extension of credit. For example, a company that borrows money from a bank can pledge its patents as collateral for the loan. The bank (referred...more
The First Circuit Court of Appeals in In re SW Boston Hotel Venture, LLC, 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 6768 (1st Cir. Apr. 11, 2014) recently ruled on a number of issues critical to valuing a secured claim in bankruptcy....more