Friday, February 21, 2014

Detroit Bankruptcy Bond Fight A Watershed For Municipal Market

There are several lessons to learn from these recent decisions. LexisNexis listed 46 court decisions containing the words “student loan, discharge, undue hardship, and bankruptcy.” Ten of these decisions only marginally and indirectly considered student loans and were discarded. Four decisions involved divorce or child support proceedings and also were not considered. Of the remaining 32 decisions that directly considered the discharge of a student loan in bankruptcy, ten allowed the discharge. Many of the court decisions mentioned the “Brunner Test.” This test stems from Brunner v. New York Higher Education Services Corporation, a 1987 decision by the federal Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit that affirmed a federal District Court’s decision. In excess of 850 court decisions have cited Brunner in the context of student loans. Marie Brunner represented herself Pro Se before the Court and was denied a bankruptcy discharge of her student loans.

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Bankruptcy Court in Newark, N.J., after losing shoppers when the quality of the chain’s merchandise declined under prior management. In earlier court papers, former Chief Executive Lisa Rhodes said that the company has new leaders and fresh merchandise that will enable the company to “thrive as a profitable player in the retail market.” The economic downturn-related troubles that struck most retailers worsened for Dots in 2011, when its executives noticed that store traffic had begun to drop. Officials put in place new programs designed to win back shoppers, but some new products were too young for its customer base and stores didn’t stock enough larger-size products, said Ms. Rhodes said in earlier court papers. Dots has also struggled against both online retailers and competitors like Target Corp. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which have “substantially greater resources than [Dots] and are better-known to shoppers,” said Ms. Rhodes, who left the company earlier this month. Dots, which has locations in 28 states, joins other discount retailers that have filed for bankruptcy in recent years. Several retailers, including Loehmann’s and Daffy’s, have used the bankruptcy process to shut down.

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) A draft of the plan, which Detroit Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr circulated among creditors last month, reportedly gives a slight preference to the city’s pension fundswhich have fought tooth and nail against the bankruptcyover its bondholders. But neither side is likely to come away happy. The pension funds reportedly would receive 25 cents for every dollar they are underfunded, while bondholders would reportedly receive 22 cents on the dollar. Justin Solomon | CNBC Detroit street scene, February 2014. Those reports raised eyebrows among municipal bond investors, not just because of the perceived safety of municipal bonds, but also because Orr had pledged early on to treat the pensioners and bondholders equally, as so-called unsecured creditors. One reason the pensioners could do slightly better is an $800 million aid package, worked out in confidential mediation sessions, aimed at shoring up the pension plans while protecting they city-owned collection at the Detroit Institute of Arts. The package includes contributions from the state, private foundations and a fundraising campaign by the museum. The plan of adjustment is likely to include more information about the city’s plans for the art collection.

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Companies known to be associated with Freedoms new owner took relatively small amounts of money out of Freedom, court papers say. Chemstream and Mr. Forrests Rosebud Mining, combined, took less than $100,000 out of Freedom, court papers say. An attorney for Rosebud did not return a call Monday. Mr. Forrest could not be reached to talk Tuesday. I never heard of any of these companies, and I primarily sue coal companies in environmental matters. Im pretty well dialed into the local industry, said Kevin W. Thompson of Thompson Barney in Charleston, W.Va. Mr.

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Investors always have considered the full faith and credit pledge by cities, school districts and other issuers to pay off those bonds “sacrosanct,” according to Natalie Cohen, the head of muni research at Wells Fargo Securities. But Detroit’s effort to declare some of its GO bonds to be unsecured debt could change that assumption. “This is a significant issue for the bond community, not just in Detroit but in all cases, because the implication is that if the court finds these aren’t secured, this will official site go far beyond Detroit,” said Michael Sweet, a bankruptcy attorney with Fox Rothschild in San Francisco. The outcome could revolve around the meaning of the word “pledge” under Michigan law. In the proceeding on Wednesday, Rhodes will hear Detroit’s argument that the city’s pledge to repay some $410 million of general obligation bonds outstanding as of the end of the city’s fiscal 2012 is far less than binding. In their lawsuits, bond insurers on the hook for making up missed payments on the bonds have asked Rhodes to rule without hearing any testimony, in what is known as a summary judgment. Rhodes could rule for either side, or he could send the matter to a trial and allow both sides to begin taking depositions and finding expert witnesses to support their arguments. In a December hearing, Rhodes said he might want testimony about how the dispute impacts other creditors.

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