Creditor’s Rights and Bankruptcy

We have extensive experience representing financial institutions in preparation of loan documents and closing transactions.  We are highly skilled and experienced in all aspects of enforcement of lender’s rights both before and during bankruptcy proceedings, including judicial and non-judicial foreclosures, receivership and other provisional remedies to secure collateral immediately. Time is always of the essence in collection and property recovery actions, and we move quickly to push our cases that have to be litigated through the courts. We represent asset purchasers in bankruptcy cases and in equity receiverships.  And, we have a special emphasis on representing lenders in construction disputes. Brent Summers was board certified in Business Bankruptcy by the American Board of Certification between 1994 and 2018 (last certified in 2014; allowed his certification to expire December 31, 2018). For more than four years, the firm was general counsel to Thomas A. Huntsberger, trustee of the bankruptcy estate of Berjac of Oregon, involving a $40,000,000 Ponzi scheme that affected hundreds of investors in Eugene and Portland. Both Steve Naito and Brent Summers regularly appear in bankruptcy court.

 

CLIENTS

  • Banks
  • Credit unions
  • Government lenders
  • Pension funds
  • Private lenders including “hard money” lenders
  • General contractors, subcontractors, and suppliers
  • Bankruptcy trustees

REPRESENTATIVE EXPERIENCE

  • Represented trustee in bankruptcy proceeding of corporation with roughly $40 million in creditor debt.  Corporation was involved in unsecured lending and investor fraud, essentially operating a Ponzi scheme to defraud individual elderly investors.  Prosecuted over a dozen lawsuits against various debtors and, after roughly six years of litigation, assisted with the recovery of more than $30 million for creditors.
  • Before the Great Recession of 2008, assisted Oregon hard money lenders in more than 100 foreclosure, asset recovery and collection actions.  During and after the Great Recession, assisted several Oregon community banks in more than 100 work out, foreclosure and recovery actions. Continue to represent community banks and private lenders in all aspects of commercial lending transactions, with an emphasis on enforcement of creditors’ rights.
  • Represented several senior living facility owners and lenders in the infamous Sunwest bankruptcy and federal receivership case. Assisted two banks in collecting their balances due on their loans to senior care facilities and assisted an owner of several facilities with the mediation and settlement of his claims and Sunwest’s counterclaims in the receivership case.
  • Pursued more than 200 collection cases, including dozen involving early provisional remedies to gain control of property.
  • Tried and settled or obtained an order granting relief in several relief from the stay hearings in bankruptcy court to complete pending foreclosure sales of real property or actions to recovery personal property collateral.
  • Successfully defended at a four-day provisional process trial an alleged creditor’s attempt to seize all of the assets of a nursery company and resolved all issues in a judicial settlement conference after the trial.
  • Assisted two out-of-state hard money lenders with several collection and recovery claims in Oregon in both state court and bankruptcy court.
  • Successfully assisted a farm products broker and a farm products purchaser in prosecuting and collecting PACA claims against middle suppliers who failed to pay for the farm products.
  • Represented a national supplier of fertilizer and chemicals against numerous farmers to collect on agricultural services liens for nonpayment of agricultural inputs.
  • Represented numerous secured and unsecured creditors in chapter 11, 12 and 13 restructuring cases, protecting their rights and filing their claims.
  • Drafted numerous promissory notes, security agreements and filed financing statements for sellers of business assets so they correctly retained a pefected security interest in the assets sold pending payment by the buyer over time.
  • Drafted numerous sets of business terms for sellers of goods to give them the best chance at collection of past due accounts.