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'Watch Your Attitude, Petitioning Creditors!'

By Joel H. Levitin and Richard H. Stieglitz
January 31, 2016

The Bankruptcy Code contains relatively clear and straightforward requirements and standards regarding the eligibility of creditors to file an involuntary bankruptcy petition against a debtor, as well as when an order for relief on such petition shall be ordered by the court. If such criteria are met, do the creditors' intentions, which are not specifically referenced in this context in the statutory framework, come into play at all?

In the recent case of In re Forever Green Athletic Fields, Inc, 804 F.3d 328 (3d Cir. 2015), the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit held that, even if petitioning creditors and the debtor met the statutory prerequisites for involuntary bankruptcy relief, if the petitioning creditors had not acted in “good faith” in filing the petition, then the bankruptcy case should be dismissed and sanctions potentially awarded against the petitioning creditors. 804 F.3d at 333-35. This ruling could make pursuing involuntary bankruptcy a less attractive tactical alternative for creditors that are unsuccessful in attempting to collect upon unpaid claims ' and should certainly cause creditors to evaluate their and other petitioning creditors' motives (including prior conduct and statements) before commencing any involuntary bankruptcy proceedings.

Statutory Background

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