{"id":3255,"date":"2016-07-18T07:00:24","date_gmt":"2016-07-18T12:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/?p=3255"},"modified":"2018-12-13T08:42:38","modified_gmt":"2018-12-13T08:42:38","slug":"environmentally-contaminated-property-new-york-bankruptcy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/environmentally-contaminated-property-new-york-bankruptcy\/","title":{"rendered":"Environmentally Contaminated Property in New York Bankruptcy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Real estate in bankruptcy generally concerns debtors, creditors, the trustee, and maybe some tenants. But when that real estate is environmentally contaminated for some reason, then the number of participants swells to include nearby parties who might be affected and environmental regulators. Bankruptcies involving environmental laws are almost always long, complex, and business related. So what are the basics?<\/p>\n

(1) \u00a0Who is the “potentially responsible party” (PRP)?<\/b> Whenever a property is environmentally contaminated, for legal purposes often the law considers the landowner or its tenant as responsible for handling the damage. Adjacent landowners or other injured parties won’t be PRPs, but they may be creditors to PRPs if they are the ones filing bankruptcy.<\/p>\n

(2) \u00a0When is an environmental claim a bankruptcy claim?<\/b> In bankruptcy, claims are rights to payment from a debtor. When the responsibility for cleaning up environmental damage becomes a bankruptcy claim isn’t as clear cut as when a debt is created by a legal contract.<\/p>\n

Under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA, also known as the “superfund” law) regulators can either order PRPs to clean up their properties or do so themselves and charge the PRPs. Because this option can be quantified as a right to payment from the debtor, PRPs can discharge it in bankruptcy.<\/p>\n

The Resource, Conservation, and Recovery Act is similar to the CERCLA, but it doesn’t offer PRPs the option of letting regulators clean up the property. As a result, it creates no claims in bankruptcy. It’s important for PRP-debtors and their creditors to recognize which law applies in the context.<\/p>\n

(3) \u00a0What does a PRP-debtor need to do?<\/b> Independent of other bankruptcy duties, PRP-debtors maintaining their use of the property (usually their businesses) must comply with regulators’ orders to clean up the damaged properties. The automatic stay does not apply to regulators’ authority to compel environmental remediation. The Bankruptcy Code considers any fines or penalties regulators levy against PRPs as administrative expenses under section 503(b)(1)(C). These are priority claims.<\/p>\n

(4) \u00a0What do environmental creditors to PRPs need to do?<\/b> For one, they need to know or be on notice of the contamination and the PRP’s liability for it. The law does not look favorably on debtors who cause injuries and discharge them before anyone else realizes the injuries occurred in the first place. Non-environmental creditors, e.g. the PRP’s lenders, don’t need to worry so much.<\/p>\n

(5) \u00a0What does the trustee do?<\/b> Trustees prefer properties that can be quickly sold to pay creditors and do not like cleaning up environmental contaminants. Accommodating regulators also complicates their work. They can try to resell contaminated properties to other parties hoping they will take on the costs and efforts. Alternatively, they can abandon<\/a> such properties back to debtors.<\/p>\n

Environmental claims, or worse, environmental damage that might not have amounted to a claim yet, are among the most difficult issues to deal with in bankruptcy or against a bankrupt creditor. It’s necessary to consult with an experienced New York bankruptcy lawyer to understand your options.<\/p>\n

For answers to more questions about bankruptcy, the automatic stay, effective strategies for dealing with foreclosure, and protecting your assets in bankruptcy please feel free to contact experienced New York Bankruptcy<\/a> Bruce Weiner for a free initial consultation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Real estate in bankruptcy generally concerns debtors, creditors, the trustee, and maybe some tenants. But when that real estate is environmentally contaminated for some reason, then the number of participants swells to include nearby parties who might be affected and environmental regulators. Bankruptcies involving environmental laws are almost always long, complex, and business related. So …<\/p>\n

Environmentally Contaminated Property in New York Bankruptcy<\/span> Read More \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":""},"categories":[16,116,31,7,36],"tags":[73,2,71,51,52,37],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nEnvironmentally Contaminated Property in New York Bankruptcy -<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Real estate in bankruptcy generally concerns debtors, creditors, the trustee, and maybe some tenants. But when that real estate is environmentally\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/environmentally-contaminated-property-new-york-bankruptcy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Environmentally Contaminated Property in New York Bankruptcy -\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Real estate in bankruptcy generally concerns debtors, creditors, the trustee, and maybe some tenants. But when that real estate is environmentally\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/environmentally-contaminated-property-new-york-bankruptcy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Bankruptcy Attorney in Brooklyn, New York | Rosenberg Musso Weiner\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-07-18T12:00:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-12-13T08:42:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Matt Leichter\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Matt Leichter\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/environmentally-contaminated-property-new-york-bankruptcy\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/environmentally-contaminated-property-new-york-bankruptcy\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Matt Leichter\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/#\/schema\/person\/75d08d648836eaa13b64bf21273bf4e7\"},\"headline\":\"Environmentally Contaminated Property in New York Bankruptcy\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-07-18T12:00:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-12-13T08:42:38+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/environmentally-contaminated-property-new-york-bankruptcy\/\"},\"wordCount\":544,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Automatic stay\",\"Bankruptcy\",\"Chapter 11\",\"New York Bankruptcy\",\"New York Bankruptcy Lawyer\",\"Trustee\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Bankruptcy\",\"Chapter 11 Bankruptcy\",\"Creditors\",\"Debt\",\"Trustee\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/environmentally-contaminated-property-new-york-bankruptcy\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/environmentally-contaminated-property-new-york-bankruptcy\/\",\"name\":\"Environmentally Contaminated Property in New York Bankruptcy -\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-07-18T12:00:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-12-13T08:42:38+00:00\",\"description\":\"Real estate in bankruptcy generally concerns debtors, creditors, the trustee, and maybe some tenants. But when that real estate is environmentally\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/environmentally-contaminated-property-new-york-bankruptcy\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/environmentally-contaminated-property-new-york-bankruptcy\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/environmentally-contaminated-property-new-york-bankruptcy\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Environmentally Contaminated Property in New York Bankruptcy\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/\",\"name\":\"Bankruptcy Attorney in Brooklyn, New York | Rosenberg Musso Weiner\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Rosenberg, Musso & Weiner, LLP\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/logo.png\",\"width\":124,\"height\":108,\"caption\":\"Rosenberg, Musso & Weiner, LLP\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/#\/schema\/person\/75d08d648836eaa13b64bf21273bf4e7\",\"name\":\"Matt Leichter\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bd20b564e1f526a569ac8b1fc9ef74db?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bd20b564e1f526a569ac8b1fc9ef74db?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Matt Leichter\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/author\/mleichter\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Environmentally Contaminated Property in New York Bankruptcy -","description":"Real estate in bankruptcy generally concerns debtors, creditors, the trustee, and maybe some tenants. But when that real estate is environmentally","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/environmentally-contaminated-property-new-york-bankruptcy\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Environmentally Contaminated Property in New York Bankruptcy -","og_description":"Real estate in bankruptcy generally concerns debtors, creditors, the trustee, and maybe some tenants. But when that real estate is environmentally","og_url":"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/environmentally-contaminated-property-new-york-bankruptcy\/","og_site_name":"Bankruptcy Attorney in Brooklyn, New York | Rosenberg Musso Weiner","article_published_time":"2016-07-18T12:00:24+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-12-13T08:42:38+00:00","author":"Matt Leichter","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Matt Leichter","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/environmentally-contaminated-property-new-york-bankruptcy\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/environmentally-contaminated-property-new-york-bankruptcy\/"},"author":{"name":"Matt Leichter","@id":"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/#\/schema\/person\/75d08d648836eaa13b64bf21273bf4e7"},"headline":"Environmentally Contaminated Property in New York Bankruptcy","datePublished":"2016-07-18T12:00:24+00:00","dateModified":"2018-12-13T08:42:38+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/environmentally-contaminated-property-new-york-bankruptcy\/"},"wordCount":544,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/#organization"},"keywords":["Automatic stay","Bankruptcy","Chapter 11","New York Bankruptcy","New York Bankruptcy Lawyer","Trustee"],"articleSection":["Bankruptcy","Chapter 11 Bankruptcy","Creditors","Debt","Trustee"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/environmentally-contaminated-property-new-york-bankruptcy\/","url":"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/environmentally-contaminated-property-new-york-bankruptcy\/","name":"Environmentally Contaminated Property in New York Bankruptcy -","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-07-18T12:00:24+00:00","dateModified":"2018-12-13T08:42:38+00:00","description":"Real estate in bankruptcy generally concerns debtors, creditors, the trustee, and maybe some tenants. But when that real estate is environmentally","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/environmentally-contaminated-property-new-york-bankruptcy\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/environmentally-contaminated-property-new-york-bankruptcy\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/environmentally-contaminated-property-new-york-bankruptcy\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Environmentally Contaminated Property in New York Bankruptcy"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/#website","url":"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/","name":"Bankruptcy Attorney in Brooklyn, New York | Rosenberg Musso Weiner","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/#organization","name":"Rosenberg, Musso & Weiner, LLP","url":"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/logo.png","width":124,"height":108,"caption":"Rosenberg, Musso & Weiner, LLP"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/#\/schema\/person\/75d08d648836eaa13b64bf21273bf4e7","name":"Matt Leichter","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bd20b564e1f526a569ac8b1fc9ef74db?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bd20b564e1f526a569ac8b1fc9ef74db?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Matt Leichter"},"url":"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/author\/mleichter\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3255"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3255"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3255\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8998,"href":"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3255\/revisions\/8998"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nybankruptcy.net\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}