SubChapter V, the new small business chapter 11 bankruptcy is approximately 2 years old. Congress’s goal was to create a less costly form of reorganization for small businesses. For many small businesses, Chapter 11 filings were too expensive. SubChapter V combines elements of chapters 13 (which is only for individuals) and 11.
We wrote about SubChapter V on our blog at https://shenwick.blogspot.com/search?q=subchapter+v
A recent article at Bloomberg titled “Analysis: Four Statistical Snapshots of Subchapter V’s 1st Year can be found at https://news.bloomberglaw.com/bloomberg-law-analysis/analysis-four-statistical-snapshots-of-subchapter-vs-1st-year
The Bloomberg article states that since the first case was filed in the Middle District of Tennessee on Feb. 19, 2020, a total of 1,643 bankruptcies were filed pursuant to Subchapter V.
The Middle District of Florida had the most Subchapter V cases filed during its first year with more than 140 cases. Florida, California, and Texas rounded out the top five.
According to the article, approximately 50 Subchapter V cases were filed in the SDNY and 50 in the EDNY.
A recent article at JD Supra titled Subchapter V Changed The Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Landscape – How Should A Creditor Protect Itself? Which can be found at https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/subchapter-v-changed-the-chapter-11-1845098/ details how creditors can protect themselves if they are involved in a Subchapter V case.
At Shenwick & Associates, we filed one Subchapter V case and then quickly moved to convert that case to chapter 7 due to, in our opinion, a difficult to deal with and inexperienced Subchapter V Trustee. Unfortunately SubChapter V requires that a Subchapter V Trustee be retained in the proceeding and the Debtor has no control over who that trustee will be.
Subchapter V remains a work in progress and only time will tell if this new version of chapter 11 will be successful!
Attorneys, accountants or debtors who have questions about Subchapter v or small business reorganizations should contact Jim Shenwick, Esq 212 541 6224 jshenwick@gmail.com