By Michael L. Moskowitz and Michele K. Jaspan

Our firm was tasked by one of our lender clients to file a residential mortgage foreclosure case in New Jersey after borrower’s failure to make mortgage payments. Borrower, assisted by a purported residential foreclosure defense expert, sought to place numerous roadblocks to the foreclosure action, including the filing of an answer containing the usual boilerplate meritless “defenses.” Ultimately, after extensive discovery and unnecessary litigation caused by borrower’s “scorched-earth” tactics, final judgment of foreclosure was rendered in favor of lender. Of course, this is not the end of the story, only the beginning.

By Michael L. Moskowitz and Melissa A. Guseynov

On March 22, 2017, the United States Supreme Court held that bankruptcy courts lack the power to dismiss chapter 11 cases by structured dismissal if they provide for distributions that do not adhere to the Bankruptcy Code’s priority rules without the consent of the affected creditors. Czyzewski et al. v. Jevic Holding Corp. et al. (Case No. 15-649) (Sup. Ct.).