As we wrap up another successful year for the ABI Real Estate Committee, we want to thank each of our members and our executive committee for making it all possible. Here are a few highlights from the committee’s activities in 2015.
The 2015 Annual Spring Meeting
While the flood of residential foreclosures that characterized the Great Recession has dried up, appeals challenging the rights of lenders to recover their post-foreclosure loan balances are still finding their way through the appellate process. Anti-deficiency laws — which either
In Bank of America, N.A. v. Caulkett,[1] the U.S. Supreme Court held that a chapter 7 debtor may not void, or “strip,” a junior mortgage that is completely underwater. To fully appreciate the Supreme Court’s decision, one must understand the
An Eastern District of Kentucky Bankruptcy Court recently held that mining leases did not constitute “true lease[s]” for the purposes of 11 U.S.C. § 365 and instead were “conveyance[s] of an interest in real property” governed by 11 U.S.C. § 363.[1] The court issued its decision in two companion chapter 7 cases: In re
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that a lien in favor of a condominium association is not a “security interest” for purposes of 11 U.S.C. § 1322(b)(2).
Analyzing the complex commercial real estate sometimes involves the identification of intangible assets and sourcing a real estate appraiser who is familiar with business valuation practices. For business appraisers, “intangible assets” are defined as:
Don’t Restrict My Sale: The Enforceability of Restrictive Covenants and Easements in Assets Sales in Bankruptcy
In 2012, ABI initiated a comprehensive analysis of chapter 11 business bankruptcy cases and possible reforms. Following a three-year review process, the ABI Commission to Study the Reform of Chapter 11 recently issued its “2012-2014 Final Report and Recommendations.”[1] ABI believed that such a report was appropriate in light of the changes in businesses, capital structures and the global marketplace since enactment of the Bankruptcy Code in 1978.
A single-asset real estate (SARE) case is defined as “real property constituting a single property or project, other than residential real property with fewer than [four] residential units, which generates substantially all of the gross income of a debtor who is not a family farmer and on which no substantial business is being conducted by a debtor other than the business of operating the real property and activities incidental thereto.”[1] In plain terms, it is a special-purpose entity that holds a single parcel or several parcels of real property
In 2002, Hon. Robert E. Gerber of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York published In re Ames Dep’t Stores Inc.,[1] a case that has often been cited as being an innovative approach to addressing issues arising in debtor estates with numerous locations subject to unexpired real property leases.