Solynda Upside Down

According to papers filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Solynda had approximately $900 million in assets, but owed creditors almost three quarters of a billion dollars and $500 million to the Federal government.

The reason cited for the company’s downturn was their inability to compete with the gamut of foreign companies getting funding from their governments. The companies in question produced massive amounts of solar panels at low prices. Moreover, they let buyers pay for them over a long period of time.

Government Help Didn’t Prevent Bankruptcy

Last summer, the Department of Energy in the U.S. went into negotiations with Solyndra to help give the company enough leeway to find new investors. On Aug. 30, there were no new investors. On Aug. 31, the company completely went out of business and fired more than 1,000 employees.
Since the company is now in bankruptcy, they will either attempt to sell off their company or liquidate all their assets.

Solyndra’s Bankruptcy Creditors

During bankruptcy negotiations, Solyndra reorganized debts; the loan that was owed to the U.S. government was lowered in priority and Argonaut Ventures emerged as one of their biggest lenders.

There are several organizations with unsecured claims of between $8 million and $3 million dollars. These include Schott North America Inc., MGS Mfg. Group, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, OZ Offshore Capital Lenders LLC, and the US Venture Partners X LP.

There are also companies that hold part of Solyndra’s parent company, 360 Solar Degree Holdings Inc. Madrone Partners, USVP Venture Partners, Rockport Capital Partners, and others own parts of it.

Despite this major solar panel business bankruptcy, the White House asserted that the United States government has to keep supporting renewable energy.

There are still about 113 employees that are there to help debtors with their restructuring efforts, and the company put forward a motion to pay them. The average bi-weekly payroll is a little under $700,000, and this is down from a little under $4 million.

Are you an Arizona business thinking of filing chapter 11 bankruptcy? Contact the Arizona Bankruptcy Lawyers at Kelly / Warner Law.

Chapter 13 Business Bankruptcy Basics

Short-term, episodic events can thrust any businesses’ finances into a downward spiral. Chapter 13 is designed to help you recover from such events. And what makes it attractive to many is that you’re often able to hold on to your home. Moreover, in Chapter 13 bankruptcies, interest rates and monthly payments are frequently lowered.

A Chapter 13 bankruptcy generally takes one to three years, but no longer then five, to complete. A business bankruptcy attorney will decide if filing Chapter 13 or Chapter 7 is the best route.

How A Chapter 13 Business Bankruptcy Works

Everyone who files for Chapter 13 bankruptcy must craft a payback plan and complete a U.S. trustee-approved credit counseling briefing – two tasks best completed with the help of a bankruptcy lawyer. Then, your attorney files the plan and petition in bankruptcy court.

The court will then send out letters to all of your creditors and set up a meeting with the them to hear objections. At this time, you’ll also be assigned a personal trustee. After hearing all sides, the governing official will determine which debt is of the utmost importance and on down the line. A repayment plan to creditors is then set-up, through the court.

From there, you’ll pay a monthly sum to your trustee (usually your lawyer), who will then distribute all agreed upon amounts to creditors.

Chapter 13 Bankruptcy And Student Loans

The one debt that cannot be dismissed under chapter 13 rules is a federal student loan. Sometimes the student loan company will offer a deferment or hardship and suspend monthly payments for a year, which will give you some breathing room. Interest will still accumulate on the student loan, but you won’t have to worry about a monthly payment. Sometimes the student loan company may allow the court to include their payment in with all other debts.

Contact A Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Lawyer In Arizona

There are many reasons why a business cannot pay off debt. Maybe a lawsuit has caused you hardship, or illness and physical disability led to tough times. Perhaps, even, a divorce has had a negative impact on your business’ bottom-line. But remember there are options, and filing for Chapter 13 bankruptcy isn’t the end – it’s often the beginning. After all, the great thing about Chapter 13 bankruptcy is that if you make all payments as promised, what debts are left at the end of this process could be forgiven.

Ready to talk with a chapter 13 bankruptcy lawyer in Arizona? Contact the Kelly Warner Law Firm today.

About Direct Air

Direct Air offered flights to a total of 17 places, one of which was Myrtle Beach. Officials for the airline claim that rising fuel costs contributed to the company’s financial condition; he also added that bankruptcy was a necessary step in an effort to re-establish financial solvency. The company has also gone on record as saying that they “hope to emerge from bankruptcy as soon as possible.”

Business Bankruptcy For Direct Air

Direct Air is slated to reopen on May 15, 2012. As for now, though, they’re closed and employees will not be returning for at least two months. It will take that long to plan the restructuring of the company in a suitable manner for the courts.

Chapter 11 Business Bankruptcy

A chapter 11 business bankruptcy is a negotiating tool available to companies that wish to work out payment options, with creditors, in order to lower the total monthly payments, while still paying off the debt. In some cases the creditors might be inclined to remove previous finance charges in order to recuperate the money they loaned in the first place.

According to paperwork filed with the bankruptcy court, Air Direct has between 100 and 199 debts owed to creditors. They claim approximately $500 thousand to $1 million is assets, but are $10 to $50 million in debt.

Creditors and Chapter 11 Business Bankruptcy

Creditors are not under any obligation to negotiate with companies like Direct Air. But creditors who turn down any form of negotiation often cut off their noses to spite their faces.

Denying a restructure of payments would ultimately mean that the company would have to sell off any assets they currently have and/or file for chapter 7 bankruptcy. A chapter 7 bankruptcy allows a company to disband and walk away from their debts as though they had never occurred in the first place. In cases such as these, the creditor often receives no payment and must take a loss.

In other words, it is in a creditor’s best interest to help the company stay afloat. And the best way to ensure your business bankruptcy filing is accepted by creditors, is to have a skilled bankruptcy lawyer helping you out.

Direct Air handled close to 50 percent of the air traffic into Myrtle Beach in 2011. It’s not the largest carrier available, but the closure will definitely — particularly during summer months when people are vacationing.

Here’s hoping that the chapter 11 bankruptcy lawyers move this business bankruptcy filing through the courts quickly, so that the employees of Myrtle Beach Air can get back to business!

With the advent of streaming digital media and on-demand cable television, consumers have gotten used to ordering movies from the confines of their homes.

Blockbuster’s bankruptcy will be massive, as the video rental chain has lost nearly 1.1 billion since 2008.  Blockbuster scheduled meetings with movie studio executives, and they, along with other creditors, will be on board throughout the pre-planning stages to help with a plan that may help to keep some of the 3,425 Blockbuster stores open.

Like many other chapter 11 business bankruptcies, it will take a complete reorganization of Blockbuster’s outstanding debts for them to become solvent again.  It’s interesting, however, that they are bringing in the creditors so early on in the process.

Pre-planning for Chapter 11 business bankruptcy is complicated, but the benefit is that one day Blockbuster may be able to shine again.

Times are tough. Many people are having problems with their investments and are seeking other options to get through this economic winter. Many people have tried “go at it alone” and gotten themselves in even more financial distress.

In many cases, before it’s too late, we can help clients recover financially without having to go down the bankruptcy route. However, even when we cannot, we can help with pre-bankruptcy planning, bankruptcy, and re-structuring. (Helpful Hint: Pre-bankruptcy planning can help you save significant property!)

The longer you wait to take action, the less options will be available when you do.

Don’t fall for the marketing ploys of debt relief agencies. These groups usually don’t have attorneys that work on your case. Typically, these agencies will charge you a couple of thousand dollars, will try to obtain a mortgage and/or loan workout program, and then, when they cannot obtain such a loan workout agreement, will tell you to go see an attorney because it appears that you may need to file bankruptcy.

Also, even if these agencies are successful with obtaining a loan workout agreement, the agreements are usually very one-sided (in favor of the lender), are poorly written, and empower lenders even more than before. Frequently, such loan workout agreements compel the client to reaffirm the debt, which eliminates any chance of contesting the debt.

Furthermore, such agreements are usually unfavorable because they are only a temporary solution. These agreements are usually written by banks, and the banks are aware that the person is likely to continue having problems in the future and will likely file bankruptcy at some time in the future. This is exactly what banks want! Banks make out better this way because they get to keep all the money that was paid under the terms of the loan workout agreement, in addition to the collateral (in many cases) after the person files for bankruptcy! Thus, all the money that was paid under the terms of the loan workout agreement is lost.

If you are in financial distress, we can help you make an informed decision.

The United States Bankruptcy code that deals with Chapter 11 Business Bankruptcy is one of the most complicated statutes in American history. Not surprisingly, there are few attorneys that handle these types of cases. Often times our business bankruptcy lawyers receive calls from clients in dire financial straits asking whether a Limited Liability Company (LLC) can file for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy here in Arizona. Although the Bankruptcy Code does not specifically say that an LLC can file for a business bankruptcy, the definitions found in the Bankruptcy code undoubtedly support the position that, yes they can….with several caveats.

Is an LLC eligible for a Business Bankruptcy under Chapter 11 Bankruptcy laws?

With a business bankruptcy, there are a number of considerations including whether an LLC bankruptcy of just one member affects the LLC as a whole; how an LLC is to be managed or wound up during an LLC business bankruptcy; and whether the LLC can continue to do business after filing for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. First and foremost, an LLC is similar to both a partnership and a corporation but is still a very different animal. It is, however, normally treated the same as a corporation for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy purposes as long as the LLC declaring Chapter 11 Bankruptcy has not already dissolved.

The Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, or sometimes called a reorganization, gives the business bankruptcy debtor the rights, powers, and obligations of a trustee. While there are some exceptions, most of the time the business filing for bankruptcy steps in the shoes of the trustee to propose a schedule. This can be difficult when dealing with an LLC bankruptcy, as this type of business bankruptcy also affects the extent to which each member can participate in the bankruptcy based on equity holdings.

What role does the member play in an Chapter 11 Bankruptcy for an LLC business bankruptcy?

Interestingly enough, in cases where a trustee has been appointed by the bankruptcy court to handle the business bankruptcy, the operating agreement of the LLC in bankruptcy becomes null. This is because in those rare cases, individual members of the LLC in bankruptcy may be facing investigation or threat of litigation. Sometimes a business can fail because of unscrupulous dealings by individual members, and thus the individual member may be liable to the LLC for a breach of his or her fiduciary duty.  Since an individual member of an LLC would be reluctant to sue themselves, the trustee must step into their shoes and act accordingly.

Often times, if there is a squabble, then an evidentiary hearing must be held in order to determine the status of the member. Generally, the outcome of this is dependent upon the role they played in the LLC. Those that played an integral role in the LLC may be treated differently than those that sat on the sidelines and passively invested money. This depends, however, on the factual scenario and should only be handled by an experienced Chapter 11 Business Bankruptcy lawyer.