An assignment for the benefit of creditors (ABC) is a process by which a financially distressed company (referred to as the assignor) transfers its assets to a third-party fiduciary (referred to as the assignee). The assignee...more
In most bankruptcies, the company decides to file for relief. In involuntary bankruptcies, creditors force the company into bankruptcy. Involuntary petitions are an extreme remedy, and therefore the requirements and standards...more
One of the requirements for an involuntary filing is that the creditors seeking relief (referred to as “petitioning creditors”) must each have a claim that is not subject to a “bona fide dispute as to liability or amount.”...more
For both debtors and creditors, the numbers are important in a bankruptcy proceeding. The Judicial Conference of the United States has announced that certain dollar amounts and dollar limitations in the U.S. Bankruptcy Code...more
Trying to collect money from someone who cannot or will not pay you is frustrating. That old chestnut about throwing good money after bad comes to mind. Placing an individual or firm (your “debtor”) into bankruptcy is a...more
Section 303 of the Bankruptcy Code allows creditors to initiate an involuntary bankruptcy case against a debtor. The petition initiating the case must be filed by creditors holding claims aggregating to at least $10,000, and...more
In 1930, Clarence Bennett’s wealthy uncle died. He left behind shares in Berry Holding Company ("BHC") that were subdivided into three groups. Bennett was the beneficiary of dividends paid out of one of these groups and, for...more
On April 24, 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (the “First Circuit”) issued an opinion in the case of Popular Auto, Inc. v. Reyes-Colon (In re Reyes-Colon), Nos. 17-1971-72, 2019 WL 1785039 (1st Cir. Apr....more
The Bottom Line - The Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York recently held in Taberna Preferred Funding IV, Ltd. v. Opportunities II Ltd. (In re Taberna Preferred Funding IV, Ltd.), No. 17-11628 (MKV),...more
If you have ever been a creditor concerned about a debtor not paying debts as they become due or paying other creditors while ignoring your demands, then forcing the debtor into an involuntarily bankruptcy may be an option....more
Imprisonment for debt has been abolished by all states, either by constitutional amendment, statute or common law, see Pease v. Charlotte Hungeford Hospital, 325 Conn. 363, 375-76 (2017); Note, “State Bans on Debtors' Prisons...more
Creditors often think that an involuntary bankruptcy petition is a great bargaining chip when faced with a recalcitrant debtor. However, the actual filing of an involuntary bankruptcy petition (when that petition is filed in...more
Section 303(b)(1) of the Bankruptcy Code generally requires three petitioning creditors to join an involuntary petition, each of which must hold claims against the debtor that are not contingent as to liability and are not...more
Addressing a novel issue in In re: International Oil Trading Company, LLC, 548 B.R. 825 (Bankr. S.D. Fla. 2016), the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida recently denied in part an involuntary...more