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Navigating the Bankruptcy Court's Power to Modify a Secured Creditor's Lien

By David M. Hillman and James T. Bentley
February 01, 2017

As a borrower approaches bankruptcy, secured creditors often believe that their existing liens and collateral packages will be respected by the bankruptcy court, absent a basis to challenge priority, perfection or some misconduct to justify equitable subordination. On the contrary, bankruptcy courts have the power to modify the scope of validly perfected liens.

The extent of a secured creditor's lien on collateral is critical to determining a host of secured creditor rights, including: 1) the extent of credit bid rights for a sale of collateral under section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code because a secured creditor can only credit bid on its collateral; 2) the entitlement to post-petition interest because only an over-secured creditor is entitled to post-petition interest under section 506(b) of the Bankruptcy Code; 3) the entitlement to “adequate protection”; and 4) the allocation of value in a sale and plan context.

Pre-Bankruptcy Lien on After-Acquired Property and Collateral Proceeds

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