First Southern National Bank v. Sunnyslope Housing Ltd. Partnership

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In Associates Commercial Corp. v. Rash, 520 U.S. 953, 956 (1997), the Supreme Court adopted a replacement-value standard for 11 U.S.C. 506(a)(1) cram-down valuations, holding that replacement value, rather than a foreclosure sale that will not take place, is the proper guide under a prescription hinged to the property's disposition or use. In this case, the en banc court held that, because foreclosure would vitiate covenants requiring that the secured property—an apartment complex—be used for low-income housing, foreclosure value in this case exceeds replacement value, which is tied to debtor’s actual use of the property in the proposed reorganization. The en banc court held, as Rash teaches, that section 506(a)(1) requires the use of replacement value rather than a hypothetical value derived from the very foreclosure that the reorganization was designed to avoid. The bankruptcy court did not err here by approving debtor's plan of reorganization and valuing the collateral assuming its continued use after reorganization as low-income housing. Accordingly, the en banc court affirmed the district court's judgment affirming the bankruptcy court's affirmance of debtor's Chapter 11 plan of reorganization. View "First Southern National Bank v. Sunnyslope Housing Ltd. Partnership" on Justia Law