The Surprising Benefits: Solving an Uncomfortable "Preference" Problem

 Posted on April 16, 2018 in Bankruptcy Law

A preferential payment to a relative or friend can turn very uncomfortable. But there are some good solutions. One should work for you.

Last week’s blog post introduced an uncomfortable problem: preference payments to a friendly creditor. (If you haven’t already please read that one before reading further here.)

The Solutions

We ended that blog post by listing and giving short descriptions of 4 likely practical solutions. We explain the first two of them today and the other two next week.

1. Wait to File Until after the 1-Year or 90-Day Preference Look-Back Period:

There’s one very simple way to avoid having money you paid to a favored creditor turn into a problematic preference. Wait to file your bankruptcy case long enough so that enough time passes since that payment. Then it’s no longer a preferential payment that the trustee can cause you problems with.

The preference period is only 90 days with most creditors, but a full year with “insider” creditors. Without getting unnecessarily technical, there’s a good chance that anybody you’d have a personal reason for paying is an insider. See Section 101(31) of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code for the statutory definition of insider. But note that this is not a complete list. It says what the term “includes,” but courts have made clear that others not on the list could be insiders. For example, also included could be friends or others who’d you’d have a personal reason to favor over other creditors.

Whether the creditor is an insider or not, the payment you made is not a preference if more than 90 day/1 year has passed when your bankruptcy lawyer files your case. Then your bankruptcy trustee would have no power to require your payee to pay back your payment.

We are well aware that waiting is not a simple solution if you are in a big hurry to file your bankruptcy case. Waiting even a few days may not be at all easy if your paychecks are being garnished or you’re under other similar collection pressure. Or waiting may even be totally inappropriate if your home would be foreclosed or your vehicle repossessed in the meantime.

However, there are many situations where you would not be a huge hurry to file your case. Then waiting would be worthwhile. This may especially make sense if you are getting close to 90 day or 1-year mark since your preferential payment. So, at least look into whether you should just wait long enough to avoid the problem altogether.

2. Persuade Trustee Not to Pursue the Preferential Payment:

Just because there was a preferential payment within the look-back period, doesn’t mean it’s worth for the trustee to pursue. There are many circumstances in which you could help convince him or her to let it alone.

First, the simplest situation is if so little money is at issue that it’s not worth the bother. It takes some effort for a trustee to force a preferential payee to pay back the money. There is also a certain amount of paperwork and effort to divvy up the money among your creditors. If the payment you made is no more than several hundred dollars most likely your trustee will shrug it off. (This is similar to trustees generally not chasing an unprotected (“nonexempt”) asset: if it’s only worth a few hundred dollars it’s usually not worth collecting and distributing.) Talk with your bankruptcy lawyer about what that unstated threshold dollar amount would be in your area.

Caution: IF the trustee is already collecting assets in any form in your case, this threshold amount consideration likely goes out the window. If the trustee already has to liquidate anything and distribute money to creditors, he or she will usually be inclined to add to that amount by chasing down your preferential payee.

Second, there are many circumstances where forcing a preferential payee to repay the money would be difficult for the trustee. Your payee may have very little in assets or income reachable by the trustee, so it would likely take a very long time to collect it. Or the payee may have a valid defense. Especially if the amount at issue is relatively small (although above the above threshold), the trustee may decide such preferential payments are not worth chasing.

Third, there are other circumstances where the trustee simply could not collect from your payee at all. Your payee may have disappeared and can’t be located. Or your payee may be legally “judgment-proof”—have no assets or income reachable by the trustee. Helping the trustee learn the true facts along these lines could induce him or her make a sensible decision to abandon the preferential payment.