Under § 506(a)(1) of the Bankruptcy Code, a secured creditor’s claim is secured only to the extent of the collateral’s value. Any amount over that value is bifurcated into a separate unsecured claim. Critically, if a...more
In SummitBridge Nat’l Invs. III, LLC v. Faison, 915 F.3d 288 (4th Cir. 2019), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled that an unsecured or undersecured creditor may include postpetition attorney’s fees and...more
It is a well-established principle of bankruptcy law that claims generally crystallize as of the bankruptcy petition date. Of course, section 506(b) of the bankruptcy code allows over-secured, secured creditors to recover...more
Lawyers who represent debtors in bankruptcy cases, supported by rulings from many bankruptcy judges, have long taken the position that creditors with unsecured claims whose agreements with their debtors provide for payment of...more
The Issue and Background - Debtors David Caulkett and Edelmiro Toledo-Cardona (“Debtors”) each filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy relief with “underwater” junior mortgages held by Bank of America, N.A. (“Bank”). In other...more
Reaffirming its 1992 decision in Dewsnup v. Timm, on June 1, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court in Bank of America v. Caulkett, No. 13-1421, once again ruled that a chapter 7 debtor may not void a junior lien under Bankruptcy Code...more
Section 506(b) of the Bankruptcy Code allows secured creditors to receive post-bankruptcy or postpetition interest, also known as pendency interest, when the value of their collateral exceeds the amount they are owed. ...more
As most mortgage lenders know by now, on May 11, 2012, the Eleventh Circuit issued an unpublished decision in McNeal v. GMAC Mortgage, LLC (In re McNeal) , 477 Fed. App’x 562, holding that a chapter 7 debtor can “strip off”...more