Business

This annual favorite will cover all recent bankruptcy law decisions and current consumer bankruptcy law issues, and is a must-attend for professionals to stay current on consumer bankruptcy law issues.

Determinations of values are central to virtually every aspect of a consumer bankruptcy case. How should debtors value assets on their schedules? What should they rely on for value, and what is their attorney’s role and responsibility? When are appraisals needed? What weight is given to BPOs and tax statements? What can creditors and trustees do to challenge the debtor’s values? What quotient of evidence do debtors, creditors and trustees need to litigate the value of a creditor’s collateral, a residence in a chapter 13 lien-strip, or a contested abandonment of property in a chapter 7 case, a contested redemption or a contested exemption?

This session will focus on the increasing number of senior citizens filing for bankruptcy. Why are so many elders now filing? What unique challenges do they present? Do their Social Security benefits and pension incomes become available to fund chapter 13 plans? How are reverse mortgages treated in chapters 7 and 13? What happens when an elderly debtor passes away during a chapter 7, 11 or 13 bankruptcy case? What if there is a surviving spouse who is also a joint debtor?

Even beginning creditors’ attorneys know that the automatic stay prevents them from enforcing their clients’ rights to their collateral. But what can they do in chapter 7 and 13 cases, and when should they do it? This session will focus on the basic legal issues facing secured creditors in these consumer cases and the development of effective and economical strategies for dealing with them. What are the legal standards to obtain relief from the automatic stay? What do the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure and the local bankruptcy rules require as attachments? What must the motion allege, and who has the burden of proof if an objection is made? Do these standards differ in chapters 7 and 13? When is the right time to bring a motion to lift a stay in a chapter 7 or 13 case? Should you seek to have a chapter 7 debtor reaffirm your debt? If a chapter 7 debtor doesn’t reaffirm but just keeps making the payments, what should you tell your client to do? How does § 365(p) work, and do you need to have the court involved? Loan modifications are common in chapter 13, but is there such a thing as a loan modification in a chapter 7? Can the court reopen a case to approve a post-discharge reaffirmation or loan modification in chapter 7? Can a chapter 13 debtor force your client to take property they don’t want by surrendering the property or vesting it in your client?

This panel will evaluate the Company’s ability to generate future cash flows sufficient to cover its obligations. This evaluation should include the viewpoints of each of the constituencies involved in the case (Debtor, Unsecured, Successor) on what the restructured debt/liability levels should be, and how the Company’s future cash flows can support their view of these obligations, including the potential to eventually refinance.