Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, a large number of commercial tenants have to contend with the challenge of whether local or state regulations permitted their organization to remain open. Unfortunately, this means that many companies have been unable to generate revenue for the past year.  Given the financial hardships faced by many people…

How In Re Shin Could Influence Which Bankruptcy Taxes are Dischargeable In a recent bankruptcy case (In Re Shin), a court questioned whether the recapture obligation of the first-time homebuyer credit constitutes a “tax” that can be applied to the non-discharge provision of the bankruptcy code. This credit refers to a tax credit established by…

In December 2020, a Delaware bankruptcy court held that the term “financial participant” as used in the safe harbor provisions of Section 546(e) of the Bankruptcy Code does not unequivocally exclude debtors. The Delaware court’s ruling is notable because it marks a split from a 2019 Southern District of New York court ruling. The Issue…

The Supreme Court of the United States recently examined whether a creditor is required to turn over property of a bankruptcy estate to a debtor or trustee under the Bankruptcy Code’s automatic stay provision if the creditor lawfully possessed the property before bankruptcy was initiated and only passively possessed the property afterward. In this case,…

Both Senator Warren and Congressman Nader recently introduced the Consumer Bankruptcy Reform Act, which has been received as the biggest alteration of the United States Bankruptcy Code since the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005. While the chance of the Act becoming law is low, the Act represents an interesting suggestion of…

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that a mortgage servicer has a permissible reason for pulling consumer reports of three borrowers for whom the company had serviced two mortgages despite the borrowers’ personal liability for the mortgages being discharged in bankruptcy. More particularly, the servicer was granted the right to access the borrowers’…

A new Consolidated Appropriations Act was signed into law at the end of December 2020. Among its thousands of pages, it includes several new bankruptcy provisions for businesses in what is referred to as the Economic Aid to Hard-Hit Small Businesses, Nonprofits, and Venues Act. Additional bankruptcy relief provisions are located in a miscellaneous section…

On December 1, 2020, several amendments to the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure took effect. These amendments had the primary effect of modifying the rules addressing bankruptcy appeals as well as making some other noticeable changes. If you are considering filing for bankruptcy, it is not necessary to learn each of these revisions, but it…

The new Subchapter V of Chapter 11 of legislation known as the Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019 became effective on February 19, 2020. Shortly after the act was passed, the COVID-19 pandemic began to impact the country. In recognition of the pandemic, the Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act was passed on…

The bankruptcy process is available to both consumers as well as businesses that cannot pay their debts and want to find a way to regain control of financial obligations. Consumer bankruptcy often takes one of two forms. Chapter 7 bankruptcy involves the liquidation of a person’s non-exempt assets into funds that are used to pay…