This year, the Secured Credit Committee has been involved with programming for ABI’s conferences. The Secured Credit Committee co-sponsored a session at the ABI’s 2023 Annual Spring Meeting with the Commercial Fraud Committee titled, “Oh No, We Have a Fraud — What Now?” This panel — comprised of lawyers in private practice and consultants that serve as CROs and trustees, as well as a U.S. Trustee — compared and contrasted the roles of various fiduciaries when there is evidence of fraud in a bankruptcy case.

For ABI’s Winter Leadership Conference, the Secured Credit Committee and the Consumer Bankruptcy Committee presented a panel titled, “The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Consumer Debt and Bankruptcies.” This panel discussed the emerging and changing role of AI in the administration of consumer debt, and how technology is being utilized for debt-servicing and bankruptcy cases. If you are interested in being part of the Secured Credit Committee’s educational programs, please contact Education Director Ian Rubenstrunk.

We have continued to add new members to our committee, and we are always eager to hear new and engaging ideas to facilitate discussions and learning about issues relevant to secured credit. If you have questions about being a part of, and getting involved with, the Secured Credit Committee, then please contact our Membership Relations Director Shirley Palumbo. One great way for new and existing members to get involved is to write an article for our newsletter. Please contact Newsletter Editor Kelli Norfleet to discuss article ideas and submission criteria.

We look forward to providing more content and meeting with many of you in the year ahead.

Critically, if a secured creditor’s claim is “nonrecourse” against the debtor, the creditor will not have an allowed unsecured claim for any deficiency after bifurcation. As a result, an undersecured creditor holding a nonrecourse claim could lose a significant portion of its claim (that is, any deficiency) in bankruptcy, particularly where the collateral has lost value or has been undervalued during the bankruptcy case.