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« on: October 07, 2014, 11:00:00 PM »
I spent 12 years in IT for the US Courts, specifically serving the US Bankruptcy Court, 9th Circuit, Western District of Washington.
The Department of Justice's US Trustee Program represents "The State" or "The Prosecution" in a Bankruptcy case. It also oversees asset liquidation and distributes funds. This is the arm of the government which will seize and liquidate assets.
What I saw in my service, the order of priority for payouts in practice - if not law - is:
1) The US Federal Government - debts to the Feds are never discharged in bankruptcy proceedings. This means IRS debt, student loan debt etc. Money owed Uncle Sam never goes away until paid in full.
2) Secured Creditors - debts secured by assets like an inventory of goods, real estate or something else that can be sold off to pay debtors' obligations
3) Unsecured Creditors - these are employees (maybe their paychecks bounced), the unfortunate suppliers of inventory of goods (the stuff the debtor sells for profit), the office's janitorial service, the power company, the water company, the phone company, the insurance companies, the food vendor for yesterday's company meeting etc. Basically, this is anyone that sent a bill and hasn't been paid.
4) Shareholders - those that own a percentage of the debtor's organization... they never get anything.
So from my experience, absent LC signing a "reaffirmation agreement," or some other legal shielding, it'd be up to the Court to decide our status.
If I had to make a bet, I'd say LC's lawyers would zealously argue we're unsecured creditors. If there's an argument that we're a Secured Creditor, it's beyond my imagination, but not necessarily beyond possible. Maybe some other department in the Executive Branch would submit a motion on our behalf.
-Jon
PS: A "reaffirmation agreement" is a written promise to pay a debt, keeping it out of bankruptcy proceedings. There is one meeting that debtors must attend. It's called the 351 meeting, or the meeting of creditors.
Nordstrom, Bloomingdales and other unsecured debtors will send pretty people to lurk in the halls well before the 351 meeting, hoping to ambush the debtor, get the debtor to sign a reaffirmation agreement. Lawyers warn debtors about this, but some people have trouble heeding warnings. This tactic works better than I thought it would.
PPS: I see the 351 meeting is now called a 341 meeting. That happened after I left service in 1999.