In an Alert published today, Audrey Noll examines the Seventh Circuit’s recent decision in Official Comm. of Unsecured Creditors v. T.D. Invs. I, LLP (In re Great Lakes Quick Lube LP):
A landlord who terminates a lease before the tenant’s bankruptcy may later
Summary
In a 25 page opinion published February 7, 2013, Judge Sontchi applied black-letter contract interpretation principles in conjunction with the bankruptcy rules in holding that a landlord was not entitled to damages resulting from a debtor’s breach of its lease. Judge Sontchi’s opinion is available here (the “Opinion”).
Background
Pursuant to a
Introduction
When a company files for bankruptcy, often it will reject some or all of its commercial leases. Alternatively, some debtors in bankruptcy choose to assume and assign their leases to third parties. By assigning its lease, the debtor is in essence selling its lease to the highest bidder. Large retailers who file for bankruptcy
Background on the Bankruptcy Filing
On October 26, 2008, Value City Department Stores filed chapter 11 bankruptcy petitions in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. According to information contained in the Debtor’s first day motions (read here), Value City’s slide into bankruptcy began following the decline in