|
New Cases For the Week of October 2, 2000 - October 6, 2000
Brought
to you by BKINFORMATION.COM - The Source
for Business Bankruptcy Information on the Internet AND BKCLAIMS
Marketplace - The Online Market For Bankruptcy Claims
October 5, 2000
|
|
Case
|
Court
|
Holding
|
| In
re Bonham |
9th Cir. |
Pursuant
to its general equity powers, the bankruptcy court has authority to
substantively consolidate non-debtor corporations with the estate of a
Chapter 7 individual debtor where the debtor and the corporations
commingled assets, and disregarded corporate formalities.
The test for such consolidation is (1) whether
creditors dealt with the entities as a single economic unit and did not
rely on their separate identity in extending credit; or (2) whether the
affairs of the debtor are so entangled that consolidation will benefit
all creditors. The test is disjunctive. The presence of
either factor justifies substantive consolidation. |
|
|
|
October 4, 2000
|
|
Case
|
Court
|
Holding
|
| Buncher Company v. Official Unsecured Creditor Committee of Genfarm Limited Partnership |
3rd Circuit |
The
prepetition settlement of litigation in which a debtor's limited
partners sold their equity interests to the debtor/partnership was a
fraudulent transfer. The transfers form the debtor to the limited
partners caused the debtor's future insolvency. Despite the fact that
the debtor received a release as part of the settlement, the release was
of no benefit to the debtor, since no claims had been asserted against
the debtor in the litigation, and there was no proof that other viable
claims existed. |
| In re Eggleston Works Loudspeaker Co. |
6th Cir. BAP |
In
spite of the 1994 amendments to the Section 330 of the Bankruptcy Code,
a Chapter 7 debtor's attorney who renders services necessary for the
administration of the estate may be awarded fees from the bankruptcy
estate (disagreeing with the 5th and 11th Circuits, and agreeing with
the 9th and 2d Circuits). |
|
|
|
October 3, 2000
|
|
Case
|
Court
|
Holding
|
In
re Bowman
(Adobe Acrobat required to view) |
8th Cir. BAP |
Putative
farmers/debtors who lacked: (i) equity in their farm land, (ii) capital
to operate a farm, and (iii) farming experience in the type of farming
proposed by their plan, and who had previously proposed two rejected
plans of reorganization, failed to prove that they had a reasonable
likelihood of reorganization, warranting relief from stay to allow
secured creditor to foreclose on farm property. |
|
|
|
October 2, 2000
|
|
Case
|
Court
|
Holding
|
|