ASARCO, LLC v. Celanese Chemical Corp., 792 F.3d 1203 (9th Cir. 2015) –
ASARCO, as a successor to the owner of a Superfund site, sued CNA as the successor to a lessee that operated a sulfur dioxide plant on the site, seeking a contribution for environmental cleanup costs. The district court granted CNA’s motion for summary judgment on the basis that the statute of limitations had run, and ASARCO appealed to the 9th Circuit. Continue reading
In re Lake Dearborn, LLC, 534 B. R. 747 (Bankr. N.D. Ill. 2015) –
A landlord debtor sought to reject unexpired food court leases, giving rise to tenant claims for rejection damages. The court was asked to determine the amount of damages for a number of the tenants. Continue reading
New Products Corp. v. Tibble (In Re Modern Plastics Corp.), 534 B.R. 723 (Bankr. W.D. Mich. 2015) –
The assignee of a mortgage lender sued a former Chapter 7 trustee and his surety for claims based on breach of fiduciary duty. After some nudging from the court, the defendants brought a motion for summary judgment that was characterized as a challenge to plaintiff’s standing to bring the claims. Continue reading
Fonseca v. Gov’t. Employees Ass’n. (In re Fonseca), 534 B.R. 261 (Bankr. D. P.R. 2015) –
An individual Chapter 7 debtor sued the Puerto Rico Government Employees Association (AEELA) alleging that it violated the discharge injunction. AEELA made a prepetition loan to the debtor, and after the discharge order was entered sought to recover money owed to the debtor for accumulated vacation and sick leave to apply to repayment of the loan. Continue reading
A creditors’ committee claimed that a financing statement was void, so that the related security interests were not perfected, and consequently could be avoided using the trustee’s “strong arm” powers. The argument turned on whether a financing statement filed one day before the security agreement was executed was authorized. Continue reading
Botson v. Citizens Banking Co. (In re Botson), 531 B.R. 719 (Bankr. N.D. Ohio 2015) –
After a secured creditor refused to terminate a UCC‑1 financing statement and filed a UCC‑3 continuation statement instead, individual Chapter 7 debtors sued the creditor alleging violations of their discharge injunction. Continue reading
Bankruptcy-RealEstate-Insights 