Treatment of secured claims in a reorganisation plan

A reorganisation plan may modify a secured creditor’s rights within limits, and those limits are where most confirmation litigation occurs.

Bifurcation. A claim is secured to the extent of the collateral’s value and unsecured for the remainder, unless the creditor elects to have its entire claim treated as secured, forgoing any deficiency claim.

Valuation is determined in light of the purpose and the proposed use or disposition of the collateral, which produces different answers for a liquidation than for continued operation.

Cramdown of a secured claim requires that the creditor retain its lien and receive deferred payments with a present value equal to the collateral’s value; or that the collateral be sold with liens attaching to proceeds and the creditor permitted to credit bid; or the indubitable equivalent.

The interest rate. Determined by a formula approach in many cases — a base rate adjusted for risk — rather than by market rate, and the adjustment is heavily litigated.

Credit bidding protects a secured creditor in a sale, and attempts to limit it require cause.

Adequate protection during the case for decline in collateral value.