Case Updates

In Richards v. PAR, Inc., 2020 WL 1451906 (7th Cir. 2020), the Seventh Circuit ruled that under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act courts must look to state law to determine whether a repossession company has a present right to possess the property at the time it was seized. Read more

Chapter 11 debtor may amend her petition to proceed under Subchapter V of the Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019 even when her case has been pending for over fifteen months and a proposed creditor's plan has been set for hearing. Read more

Court gave effect to the endorsement on a mortgage note that was endorsed for assignment by the original lender using the stamped signature of a person who had left the bank's employ years earlier. Read more

M appeals child support calculation for self-employed F based on 1) TCT allowing deductions for depreciation in calculating income available for support and 2) presuming F’s tax returns were presumptively correct, thereby shifting burden of proof to M. Reversed. Read more

The high-profile Chapter 11 of Sears produced another decision involving the high-profile Mall of America (“Mall”). MOAC Mall Holdings LLC v. Transform Holdco LLC (In re Sears Holdings Corp.), 2020 WL 2319194 (S.D.N.Y. May 11, 2020). Read more

A Texas bankruptcy court has held that a debtor may not amend its chapter 11 petition to proceed under subchapter V of the Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019 in a case pending prior to the effective date of the SBRA. [In re Double H Transportation LLC, 2020 WL 2549850, Case No. 19-31830 (Bankr. W.D. Tex. Mar. 5, 2020).] Read more

The California Legislature recently passed a budget trailer bill which, if signed by the Governor, would significantly alter the amount a homeowner can exempt from a forced sale of a home. Read more

The California Court of Appeal has weighed in on whether Amazon is subject to strict products liability for damages arising from a defective product sold on Amazon’s website by a third-party seller. Because as a factual and legal matter, Amazon placed itself between the seller and the buyer in the chain of distribution of the product at issue, the court found Amazon was strictly liable. Read more

John Jarman stayed three months at an HCR ManorCare skilled nursing facility while recovering from hip surgery. About two years later, Jarman sued HCR, alleging violations of the “Patients Bill of Rights” (Health & Saf. Code, § 1430, subd. (b) (section 1430(b)), elder abuse, neglect, and negligence. Read more

The Court of Appeals of Nevada recently issued a detailed opinion, drawing on nationwide authority, interpreting section 9-609 of the Uniform Commercial Code, which authorizes a secured creditor to enter private property to recover possession of collateral so long as the repossession proceeds “without breach of the peace” (a term not defined in the UCC). The case is Droge v. AAAA Two Star Towing, 2020 WL3415636 (June 18, 2020). Read more