Technical bankruptcy procedure can be fun. So, here goes. Dueling Districts Imagine two bankruptcy cases, involving the same debtor or their affiliate in two different districts (e.g., Delaware and Wyoming). It’s likely that one set of interested parties (e.g., debtors, creditors, regulators) will find one of the venues inconvenient. Often, the second case’s filing responds to the first case’s inconvenient location. Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 1014(b) (“Rule 1014(b)”) provides a means for moving the inconvenient case to the preferred location. A motion is filed in the pending first case’s…Read More
Until recently, New York State residents with rent stabilized apartments risked losing their homes in bankruptcy. This unhappy state ended in the recent decision, In the Matter of Mary Veronica Santiago-Monteverde. etc., (Santiago-Monteverde.”)1 New York State’s highest court ruled that rent stabilized leases are “public assistance benefits” which are unavailable to be converted to cash to pay creditors. The Bankruptcy Context Filing a bankruptcy case creates an “estate” comprised of all the debtor’s property. In chapter 7 cases, a trustee is appointed to administer that estate. Trustees administer cases by selling marketable “non-exempt”…Read More
