The Supreme Court finally settled a long-standing question as to whether a creditor is required to return property of a debtor after bankruptcy has been filed. The answer is that a creditor can continue to retain possession over property of [...]
In a case of first impression, the Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California, Los Angeles Division, issued a recent opinion in In re Nikolay Machevsky, No. 14-29611 (Bankr. C.D. Cal. Jan 8, 2021), ordering a debtor to be [...]
On December 27, 2020, President Trump signed into law the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 (CAA). The CAA includes a temporary extension for debtor-tenants to assume or reject certain leases. Section 365 deals with the assumption and/or rejection of residential [...]
The “Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021” (“COVID Act”) effective December 27, 2020 amends Section 547 of the Bankruptcy Code and protects suppliers and landlords through agreement to defer payments made after March 13, 2020. Specifically, an agreement entered into on or [...]
Introduction Commercial tenants are defaulting at a faster rate due to the pandemic. But whether we are in a pandemic or not, commercial landlords need to know what to do if their tenants file bankruptcy be it Chapter 7 [...]
The retail apocalypse began long before COVID-19 . With many retailers already over-leveraged and shopping patterns changing, retailers were already shuttering stores, seeking a reduction in rent and/or filing bankruptcy. Afterall, many major retailers including anchor tenants like Sears, had [...]
It’s a common misconception that if someone files bankruptcy, all claims against them will be discharged leaving few assets to be split between creditors. In fact, several kinds of debts are not eligible for a discharge. A creditor or [...]
Introduction Creditors in mega-bankruptcies and people in general are up in arms over the ridiculous bonuses companies are giving their “key” employees and executives -- styled as “retention bonuses.” Pre-Bankruptcy Retention For practical reasons, companies facing financial uncertainty need [...]
Though the pandemic is the cause of the rising number of retail bankruptcies, major retailers were facing cash flow and insolvency issues prior to COVID-19. Many of them were over-leveraged by virtue of funding the leveraged buyouts of prior ownership. [...]
