Market participants might be wary of opinions that begin with a recitation of academic literature and then turn to dictionaries. The former tend to be authored with an eye toward systemic change rather than direct experience...more
On December 31, a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (the Court or the Fifth Circuit) held that the controversial $200 million Serta Simmons Bedding (SSB) uptier financing...more
The CFPB recently released results of a study of residential mortgage refinance loans from the first quarter of 2013 to the first quarter of 2023, focusing on differences between cash-out and non-cash-out (or rate and term)...more
This past year was marked by extraordinary deal activity. Record breaking M&A activity drove record breaking private credit activity. Private equity M&A activity was at a substantial high, with over 8,500 deals worth $2.1...more
At the beginning of his term, President Biden declared that his administration would make it a policy to eliminate “racial bias and other forms of discrimination in all states of home-buying and renting.”...more
The Sixth Circuit recently ruled that an agricultural “multi-service finance company” had no claim to the proceeds of produce held in trust pursuant to the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (“PACA”) and could not...more
A&B ABstract: On December 10, 2020, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued an innovative final rulemaking that creates a pathway to “safe harbor” Qualified Mortgage (QM) status for performing non-QM and...more
On December 16, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) reported that the performance of first-lien mortgages in the federal banking system declined during the third quarter of 2020, which accounts for 27% of all...more
"Cramdown" chapter 11 plans, under which a bankruptcy court confirms a plan over the objection of a class of creditors, are relatively common. Less common are the subset of cramdown plans known as "cram-up" chapter 11 plans....more
As previously reported, at the end of April 2020, the CFPB issued two factsheets regarding the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) and Regulation B provisions that require creditors to provide the applicant with a copy of any...more
The Value Outside Counsel Can Contribute - The insurance industry has played a significant role in the commercial real estate (CRE) market for more than a century. A major part of CRE investments for insurance companies...more
On June 19, 2019, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (the “Third Circuit”) affirmed a ruling of the United States District Court for the District of Delaware (the “District Court”) dismissing challenges...more
In Momentive Performance Materials Inc. v. BOKF, NA (In re MPM Silicones, L.L.C.), 874 F.3d 787 (2d Cir. 2017), cert. denied, 138 S. Ct. 2653 (2018), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed a number of lower...more
In Momentive Performance Materials Inc. v. BOKF, NA (In re MPM Silicones, L.L.C.), 2017 BL 376794 (2d Cir. Oct. 27, 2017) ("Momentive"), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, in a long-anticipated decision,...more
Last week the Second Circuit issued its long-awaited opinion on the appeals of plan confirmation taken by the first lien, 1.5 lien and subordinated noteholders in In re MPM Silicones, LLC (“Momentive”). With one exception,...more
The Situation: In In re MPM Silicones, L.L.C., secured noteholders argued that replacement notes distributed to them under a cram-down chapter 11 plan should bear market-rate interest rather than the lower formula rate...more
In December 2016, Cumulus Media Holdings Incorporated (Cumulus) proposed an exchange of $610 million of its unsecured senior notes for $305 million of new first-lien debt under a fully drawn revolving credit facility and...more
Throwing yet another wrench into the long-running and hard fought bankruptcy proceedings of Energy Future Holdings Corp., et al., the Third Circuit recently reversed the decisions of the Delaware bankruptcy and district...more
On November 17, 2016, in Delaware Trust Co. v. Energy Future Intermediate Holding Company LLC (In re Energy Future Holdings Corp.), Case No. 16-1351 (3d Cir. Nov. 17, 2016), the United States Court of Appeals for the Third...more
In this exciting age of startups, the market is brimming with opportunities for individuals and entities alike to invest in emerging companies. Today’s rapid rate of technology development justifies investors’ eagerness to...more
On March 11, 2016, Judge Christopher Sontchi of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware issued an opinion in the Energy Future Holdings bankruptcy that resolved an intercreditor dispute over $90 million in...more
As the lending community is well aware, the mortgage industry in the state of Nevada remains in flux. Nevada continues to deal with the aftermath of the Nevada Supreme Court’s September 2014 decision in SFR Investments Pool...more
As the foreclosure crisis dies down, lenders are seeing more creative tactics employed to stall foreclosures. One tactic is that during the pendency of the first lien holder’s foreclosure, the borrower will convey title, or...more
On July 23, 2015, in an action arising from the huge TCEH chapter 11 bankruptcy, Judge Paul A. Engelmayer of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York issued an opinion in Delaware Trust Company v....more
It is hard to imagine that a lender’s first-position deed of trust on a residence worth hundreds of thousands of dollars could be extinguished by a homeowners’ association (HOA) lien for overdue neighborhood assessments,...more