US mortgage rates hit 5% this week for the first time in more than a decade, continuing a rapid ascent since the start of 2022. According to The Wall Street Journal, interest on the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage climbed from 4.72% a week ago to its highest level since early 2011. Now, bankers and
Recently, the Second Circuit became the first federal circuit court to rule that the federal government could deny a Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) loan to a debtor in bankruptcy solely because of an applicant’s bankruptcy status.[1] Prior to the Second Circuit’s decision in Springfield Hospital, Inc. v. Guzman, multiple lower federal courts were divided on the issue, although the majority of those courts reached the same conclusion as the Second Circuit.
Continue Reading Opinion of Interest – Springfield Hospital, Inc. v. Guzman: Second Circuit Upholds Federal Government’s Ability to Deny PPP Loans to Bankrupt Companies
Bloomberg describes the latest example of a priming transaction that left minority lenders “fuming.” Recently, Incora, an aerospace supplier, announced a transaction with Silver Point Capital and Pacific Investment Management Co. in which it received new financing and will potentially save up to $90 million in interest expense. The transaction includes what Bloomberg characterized as
Talc claimants should have their appeal of a decision permitting J&J-subsidiary LTL Management to continue its Chapter 11 proceedings heard as soon as possible, according to the same bankruptcy judge that issued the decision. In February, Judge Michael Kaplan of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of New Jersey permitted the company to stay in Chapter 11,
Per Law360, a Delaware bankruptcy judge ruled that Art Van Furniture did not violate the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (“WARN”) Act, which requires large employers to provide least 60 days’ notice to workers before mass layoffs, when Art Van laid off 700 workers when COVID-19 shutdown orders were in effect. The
Bloomberg reports that Puerto Rico ended its five-year bankruptcy this week by restructuring $22 billion of debt. This was accomplished through a bond transaction in which certain investors exchanged their prepetition debt securities for new general obligations. The exchange reduced Puerto Rico’s funded debt to approximately $7 billion and dedicated $1.4 billion for public employees’
Reuters reports that Mahwah Bergen Retail Group – the former owner of the Ann Taylor retail clothing brand – obtained bankruptcy court approval of its revised reorganization plan, from which certain non-debtor releases were removed. The revised plan comes after the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia held that the non-debtor releases
In its January 14, 2022 decision in In re Wolfson, the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware discharged Chapter 7 debtor Ryan K. Wolfson of nearly $100,000 in student loan debt.[1] Chief Judge Laurie Selber Silverstein found that Wolfson, an often un- or underemployed and chronically ill man, met the three-prong “Brunner test” and proved that repayment of his student loans would result in “undue hardship” under Section 523(a)(8) of the Bankruptcy Code. Declaring most interpretations of Brunner “unmoored from the original test and the plain language of ‘undue burden,’” Judge Silverstein held that, under the Brunner test, a debtor need only show an inability to maintain “a minimal standard of living” while repaying his or her student loans, not a total incapacity to ever repay them. In discharging the nearly six-figure debt, Judge Silverstein’s opinion found that allowing lifelong student loan debts to escape discharge absent an onerous standard of undue hardship conflicted with the promise of a “fresh start” that the Bankruptcy Code offers.
Continue Reading Opinion of Interest – In re Wolfson: A Potential Re-Evaluation of the “Undue Hardship” Test for Student Loan Borrowers
According to Reuters, businesses are contending with increased costs as supply chain issues continue to disrupt the economy. Companies have struggled to keep up with demand for consumer goods, which soared during the pandemic. Costs include rising prices for raw materials due to halted factory production and backlogs of ships waiting to unload cargo
As reported by Bloomberg, hearings began on Monday to decide whether to dismiss Johnson & Johnson’s District of New Jersey bankruptcy case. Employing the so-called “Texas Two-Step” strategy, J&J used Texas law to create the subsidiary LTL Management to hold its talc-related liabilities. LTL then filed for bankruptcy, with a pledge from J&J to