Author Archives: BankruptcyRealEstateInsights

About BankruptcyRealEstateInsights

Vicki R. Harding was a partner in the Detroit office of Pepper Hamilton LLP who moved to Arizona seeking warmer weather. Ms. Harding continues to handle commercial transactions with an emphasis on real estate and bankruptcy issues (but no longer owns a snow shovel).

Automatic Stay: What Happens When a Case is Reopened?

U.S. Bank, N.A. v. Brumfiel (In re Brumfiel), 514 B.R. 637 (Bankr. D. Colo. 2014) – After a debtor reopened her chapter 7 bankruptcy case, a lender moved for relief from the automatic stay in order to continue with a foreclosure … Continue reading

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Medical Marijuana: What Happens in Bankruptcy (Not Much)

In re Arenas, 514 B.R. 887 (Bankr. D. Colo. 2014) – The U.S. trustee sought to dismiss “for cause” a chapter 7 case filed by a marijuana grower and his wife. The debtors countered by moving to convert to a chapter 13 … Continue reading

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Calculating Title Insurance Claims: Reduction in Value vs. Insured Claim

First Am. Bank v. First Am. Transp. Title Ins. Co., 759 F.3d 427 (5th Cir. 2014) – After a mortgagor filed bankruptcy, a lender brought claims under a ship mortgage insurance title policy. The lender appealed the district court’s determination … Continue reading

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Rejecting Related Contracts: When Can You Pick and Choose?

In re Trinity Coal Corp., 514 B.R. 526 (Bankr. E.D. Ky. 2014) – The debtors sought to reject easement and disposal agreements with the owners of adjacent coal mines. The adjacent owners objected on the basis that the agreements were … Continue reading

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Mortgage Modifications: Senior Loans May Become Not So Senior

Sperry Assoc. Fed. Credit Union v. US Bank Nat’l Ass’n (In re White), 514 B.R. 365 (Bankr. E.D.N.Y. 2014) – A junior mortgagee sought to subordinate the senior mortgage loan based on an argument that modification of the senior loan … Continue reading

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Mortgage-Backed Securities: “It Is The Rare Ordinary Human Being Who Understands Them”

In re Lehman Bros. Holdings Inc., 513 B.R. 624 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. 2014) – A purchaser of residential mortgage-backed securities filed proofs of claim based on alleged misrepresentations by the debtors in offering materials distributed in connection with sale of the … Continue reading

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