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New Cases For the Week of January 12, 2003 -
January 16, 2004
Brought to you by BKINFORMATION.COM
- The Source for Business Bankruptcy Information on the Internet
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January
16, 2004
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Case
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Court
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Holding
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Davis
v. Cox
(DBN Subscription Required |
1st
Cir. |
Under
Maine law, each spouse
acquires a constructive trust
interest in marital property
upon commencement of a
divorce. This constructive
trust interest prevents
a non--debtor spouse's part of
the marital property from
becoming property of the
estate in bankruptcy case
filed by the other spouse. |
In
re Integra Realty Resources,
Inc.
(DBN Subscription Required) |
10th
Cir. |
Although
cases in which the value of
fraudulently transferred
property appreciated after the
transfer are rare, the proper
focus in § 550(a) actions is
not on what the transferee
gained by the transaction, but
rather on what the bankruptcy
estate lost as a result of the
transfer. The only
generally applicable rule in
regard to § 550(a) valuation
is that the time at which the
value is measured depends upon
the circumstances of each
individual case. Where a
fraudulently transferred asset
appreciates in value after the
transfer, the appreciated
value can be recovered. |
In
re State Street Houses, Inc.
(DBN Subscription Required) |
11th
Cir. |
The
Bankruptcy Reform Act did not
preempt the factors
articulated in In Re Phoenix
Piccadilly, Ltd., 849 F.2d
1393, 1394 (11th Cir. 1988)
regarding the assessment of
the bad faith of a bankruptcy
filing. |
In
re Reynolds
(DBN Subscription Required) |
Bankr.
Minn. |
A
debtor with large law school
debts who suffered from major
depressive disorders was
entitled to an undue hardship
discharge even though she had
disposable income sufficient
to repay a substantial part of
the debt. The court
found that the mere existence
of the debt contributed
materially to the debtor's
mental illness and it was
unlikely she could recover
unless the debt was
eliminated. |
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January
15, 2004
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Case
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Court
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Holding
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Kontrick
v. Ryan
(DBN Subscription Required) |
S.Ct. |
A
debtor forfeits the right to
rely on Rule 4004 if the
debtor does not raise the
Rule's time limitation before
the bankruptcy court reaches
the merits of the creditor's
objection to discharge. |
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January
14, 2004
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Case
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Court
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Holding
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In
re Daisytek, Inc.
(DBN Subscription Required) |
Bankr.
N.D. Tex. |
A
negotiated cash collateral
order giving a committee a
deadline to investigate and
file claims of the estate or
the committee against the
debtor's bank, implicitly
granted the committee the
authority to pursue the
estate's causes of action
without further court
order.
By
agreeing to not add any new
causes of action in its
amended pleading which were
not in the original pleading,
the committee waived the right
to assert any causes of action
except preference and
equitable subordination.
Language in the original
pleading that “the Bank
Group’s prepetition actions
give the Estate causes of
action under applicable
federal and state law against
the Bank Group” was
insufficient to enable the
committee to assert causes of
action for fraud, negligent
misrepresentation, duress,
breach of the duty of good
faith, breach of contract,
promissory estoppel, and
breach of fiduciary duty. |
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January
13, 2004
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Case
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Court
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Holding
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In
re Jones
(DBN Subscription Required) |
Bankr.
C.D. Ill. |
Debtor
prohibited from redeeming
tools intended primarily for
business use. |
In
re Valley Media, Inc.
(DBN Subscription Required) |
Bankr.
De. |
The
following information must be
included in a complaint to
avoid preferential transfers
in order to survive a motion
to dismiss: (a) an
identification of the nature
and amount of each antecedent
debt and (b) an identification
of each alleged preference
transfer by (i) date, (ii)
name of debtor/transferor,
(iii) name of transferee and
(iv) the amount of the
transfer. |
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January
12, 2004
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Case
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Court
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Holding
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In
re StarNet, Inc.
(DBN Subscription Required) |
7th
Cir. |
Neither
§365(a) nor anything else in
bankruptcy law entitles
debtors to more or different
services, at lower prices,
than their contracts provide.
The
matter is referred to the FTC
for clarification of rules
regarding porting of wireline
phone numbers by CLECs |
In
re Orr
(DBN Subscription Required) |
Bankr.
N.D. Ill. |
A
debtor need not have an
interest in exempt property at
the time the debtor moves to
avoid” a lien under §
522(f)(1), so long as the
debtor possessed the interest
before the lien “fixed” or
“attached” to the
property. |
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