Maryland Bankruptcy Blog » Chapter 11

Maryland Foreclosure “Moratorium” to Expire Soon

Brett Weiss, Esq. — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 13:13:25 +0000

When Governor O’Malley signed into law changes to Maryland’s foreclosure laws effective on April 4, 2008, new foreclosure filings stopped. Although the new law’s changes were, in most instances, more cosmetic than substance (see my article on the Mortgage Law Network, “Changes to Maryland Foreclosure Law: Steak or Sizzle?“) they contained provisions that resulted in an effective moratorium, or halt, in foreclosures.

This is primarily because of required new forms that have to be adopted by the State, and without which, the foreclosure cannot comply with the technical requirements of the new law. The forms should be issued in early July, and the floodgates will open. Three months worth of foreclosures will be filed at once, with auctions likely scheduled in early September.

Thousands of new cases are likely to be filed, so if you’ve fallen behind on your mortgage, now is the time to examine your options, before the rush hits.

US Trustee Audits to Resume May 12, 2008

Brett Weiss, Esq. — Tue, 13 May 2008 20:56:02 +0000

According to an article on the US Trustee website, random debtor audits, which were halted in January 2008 due to budgetary problems, will resume on May 12, 2008. The only change appears to be that instead of randomly auditing one out of each 250 cases filed, the UST will audit one out of each 1,000 cases filed.

Brett Weiss Quoted in “Washington Business Journal” on Chapter 11 Business Bankruptcy

Brett Weiss, Esq. — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 18:34:17 +0000

Brett Weiss was quoted in the January 25, 2008 issue of the Washington Business Journal in connection with the recent bankruptcy filing of one of his Chapter 11 developer clients. Weiss was quoted as saying, “We all know that the current housing market is lousy. And this is making things hard for a lot of good folks.”

The full article may be found on the Washington Business Journal website.

Does the “Absolute Priority Rule” Still Apply in Individual Chapter 11 Cases?

Brett Weiss, Esq. — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 12:51:19 +0000

The Absolute Priority Rule (APR) is a long-established principle that in Chapter 11 cases creditors’ claims take priority over shareholders’ claims. Pre-BAPCPA, cases such as In re Gosman, 282 B.R. 45 (Bankr. S.D. Fla. 2002) held that the retention of even exempt property by an individual debtor in a Chapter 11 Plan violates the absolute priority rule unless unsecured creditors are paid in full. Given the many changes made to Chapter 11 by BAPCPA, does the APR still apply? Two recent cases hold that it does not.

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