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Personal Guaranty of Commercial Lease Held Discharged in Guarantor's Bankruptcy
As we prepare for the anticipated increase in bankruptcy filings caused by the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on the economy, many practitioners are trying to compare this to the savings and loan crisis of the late 1980s. One of the issues that keeps coming up cycle after cycle is whether a personal guaranty of a commercial lease is discharged in the bankruptcy of the individual guarantor. Court decisions have split on this issue for years.
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Supreme Court Defers to State Law on Ownership of Tax Refund
High Court Rejects Application of Bob Roberts Rule Federal courts should "turn to state law to resolve" a "fight over a tax refund," held a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court in Rodriquez v. FDIC (In re United W Bancorp., Inc.)
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Expect Flurry of Bankruptcy Filings With Coronavirus Slowdown
Potential Clients Are Reaching Out to Bankruptcy Attorneys to Assess the Need for Business Filings Bankruptcy attorneys expected to get calls as the coronavirus pandemic swiftly slowed the economy — and they were right.
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Venue Reform in Corporate Bankruptcies
A bipartisan group of House lawmakers has introduced a bill that aims to limit where distressed companies can file bankruptcy, making it harder for companies to file outside of the jurisdiction where they are headquartered or have most of their assets. The Bankruptcy Strategist asked Robert J. Gayda, a partner in Seward & Kissel's Bankruptcy and Corporate Reorganization Group who represents a clients in all aspects of restructuring, about his thoughts on proposed venue reform in corporate bankruptcies.
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Asset Protection, Pre-Bankruptcy Planning and Code §727(a)(2)(A)
This article examines asset protection and pre-bankruptcy planning and its impact on a debtor's discharge through Bankruptcy Code §727(a)(2)(A).
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A New Regime in Preference Litigation
One of the provisions of the Small Business Reorganization Act amends the language of Bankruptcy Code Section 547 — which gives trustees and debtors in possession the right to seek to recover a payment to a third party in the 90-day period prior to the commencement of a bankruptcy case as a "preference" — to add a due diligence requirement. Though the intent behind the added language seems clear, it may not have its intended effect.
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Bankruptcy Court Preliminary Injunction Held Not Appealable
A bankruptcy court's preliminary injunction was "not a final and immediately appealable order," held the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware in In re Alcor Energy, LLC.
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Discharge of Student Loan Debt OK'd Under Brunner Standard
In January, a Southern District of New York U.S. Bankruptcy Chief Judge entered a decision granting summary judgment to a pro se debtor, finding that he debtor had satisfied the "undue hardship" standard set forth in Section 523(a)(8) of the Bankruptcy Code, and ordering the discharge of the student loan debt of more than $220,000.
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Lessor Repossession of Property on Eve of Lessee Bankruptcy
Voluntary Turnover or Face Contempt Lessors who repossess property immediately prior to a lessee bankruptcy filing may be required to return such property or face sanctions by the bankruptcy court. Federal courts are currently split on the issue of whether the lessor must voluntary surrender property seized petition or may hold such property until such time as the debtor seeks, and obtains, an order of turnover.
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Tips to Minimize Landlord's Exposure When a Commercial Tenant Files Bankruptcy
Landlords often have clues that a tenant is going to be filing for bankruptcy, rental payments are consistently late several months in a row and the tenant falls more than a month behind on the rent. But, it can still be shocking when a landlord receives a legal notice in the mail, instead of a rent check.
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