Insights on Subchapter V Reorganizations

On June 21, 2022, President Biden signed the Bankruptcy Threshold Adjustment and Technical Corrections Act into law. 

In an issue of first impression for the jurisdiction, the Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois has ruled that a subchapter V debtor “substantially consummated” its plan by paying less than $1,500 in distributions to creditors and, as a result, could no longer modify the plan.

On June 7, 2022, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously held that the exceptions to discharge found in section 523(a) of the Bankruptcy Code, which ordinarily exclusively apply to individual debtors, also apply to small business corporate debtors in chapter 11 bankruptcy under subchapter V.

The President signed legislation raising the eligible debt ceiling for Subchapter V of Chapter 11 to $7,500,000. Small businesses with up to $7,500,000 in noncontingent, liquidated debts are eligible for relief under Subchapter V for another two years.

The House has passed a bill that will now go to the President to sign into law that raises the eligible debt ceiling for Subchapter V of Chapter 11 to $7,500,000. Small businesses with up to $7,500,000 in noncontingent, liquidated debts will once again be eligible for relief under Subchapter V.

After years of large retailers and malls struggling prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and the most vulnerable retailers filing for bankruptcy relief in its immediate wake in early 2020, the US economy rebounded strongly with the aid of government assistance and low interest rates.

The Senate has passed a bill by unanimous consent to extend the heightened debt ceiling for Subchapter V of Chapter 11.