Free Republic

Puerto Rico's financial oversight board on Wednesday filed for a form of bankruptcy protection under last year's federal rescue law known as PROMESA, touching off the biggest bankruptcy in the history of the U.S. municipal debt market. The move comes a day after several major creditors sued the U.S. territory and its Governor Ricardo Rossello over defaults on the island's $70 billion in bonds. The request came under Title III of the PROMESA law is an in-court debt restructuring process akin to U.S. bankruptcy protection, as Puerto Rico is barred from traditional bankruptcy because it is a U.S. territory. The...

Puerto Rico is set to file the largest public sector bankruptcy in history after vulture capitalist hedge funds that bought big pieces of the island’s $73 billion in defaulted debt for pennies-on the-dollar refused to take $24 billion haircut.

But don’t blame the oil bust. Commercial bankruptcy filings, from corporations to sole proprietorships, spiked 28% in March from February, the largest month-to-month move in the data series of the American Bankruptcy Institute going back to 2012. They’re up 8% year-over-year. Over the past 24 months, they soared 37%! At 3,658, they’re at the highest level for any March since 2013. Commercial bankruptcy filings skyrocketed during the Financial Crisis and peaked in March 2010 at 9,004. Then they fell sharply until they reached their low point in October 2015. November 2015 was the turning point, when for the first time...

The filing, signed by HelioPower President Maurice Russo, says that despite borrowing nearly $3 million from its parent company Sierra Nevada Solar (SNS) over a period of years, its current revenues are not enough to keep up with its debt obligations. In fact, HelioPower has borrowed $182,218 from SNS so far in 2017 just to meet its payroll obligations.

Solar company Suniva Inc. filed for bankruptcy Wednesday after receiving millions in government subsidies to manufacture solar panels. Suniva blamed its bankruptcy on competition from cheap Chinese-made solar panels, but the company received about $20 million in support from federal and state taxpayers, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “For many years, Chinese manufacturers of solar cells have benefited from favorable, state-sponsored financing and lower labor costs, allowing them to flood the United States market for solar cells and modules with cheap imports,” David Baker, the company’s restructuring officer, said in a statement. “This has negatively impacted manufacturers based in the...

Sungevity’s sudden and startling fall from grace came to a quiet end yesterday after a Delaware bankruptcy court approved the sale of its assets to Northern Pacific Group for $50 million.

Two weeks after laying off 131 employees without notice and closing its module plant in Michigan, one of the largest U.S. solar manufacturers has filed for bankruptcy.

Texas had high hopes for the southern segments of SH 130, a 41-mile stretch of the high-speed toll road east of San Antonio. The state had put off building that stretch of road until a pair of investors stepped forward and offered what sounded like a great deal: Texas would get a big check for turning the rights to build and operate the toll road over to a private entity, a move that would give the state a new highway and a share of the tolls. The state would own the road and rake in revenue, but wouldn't have to...

Bankruptcy for Puerto Rico is looking ever more likely as the clock ticks down toward a May 1 deadline to restructure $70 billion in debt, ramping up uncertainty for anyone betting on returns from the island's widely held U.S. municipal bonds. When U.S. Congress last year passed the Puerto Rico rescue law dubbed PROMESA, it froze creditor lawsuits against the island so its federally appointed oversight board and creditors could negotiate out of court on the biggest debt restructuring in U.S. municipal history. The freeze expires on May 1, however, and an extension by Congress is "not going to happen,"...

Shoe chain Payless ShoeSource has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, becoming the latest retailer to succumb to increasing competition from online rivals like Amazon. The Topeka, Kansas-based retailer said Tuesday that it will be immediately closing nearly 400 stores as part of the reorganization. It has over 4,400 stores in more than 30 countries and was founded in 1956. […] Shoppers are increasingly shifting their buying online or going to discount stores like T.J. Maxx to grab deals on designer brands. That shift has hurt traditional retailers, even low-price outlets like Payless. …

With each passing day, more compromising of national security, self-serving and self-enriching behaviors, frauds, scams and general malfeasance on the part of Hillary Clinton come to light via new Wikileaks data dumps. But the news media’s obsession with things Donald Trump has said consistently overshadows things Hillary Clinton has actually done. Revelations have now surfaced that Clinton backed the Puerto Rico Debt Relief Bill, a plan to help the financially struggling U.S. commonwealth deal with a $70 billion debt it managed to rack up, after a top Clinton fundraiser –who just happens to be a lobbyist for the Puerto Rican...

Excessive penalties and poor customer service at the E-ZPass electronic toll collection system have put some Marylanders on the path to “toll bankruptcy,” Sen. Roger Manno told the Senate Finance Committee last week.“Folks [are] exasperated because they’ve been caught in a system that is not working,” Manno said.Broad enforcement powers enacted in 2013 to address toll violations have led to wage attachments, financial hardship and non-renewal of vehicle registrations at MVA, witnesses testified. Sen. Roger Manno “The penalty structure that we set several years ago in the General Assembly was not intended to be punitive,” Manno said. “It was not...

Seeking to spread some cheer, President Nicolas Maduro's socialist government has set aside its distaste for consumerism and sent a small army of bureaucrats and soldiers to force more than 200 retail stores in Caracas to hold Christmas sales. "Our worker-president has ordered us to guarantee fair prices for the people, and we are complying. These economic hitmen can't take away our merry Christmas," said William Contreras, head of the National Superintendency for the Defense of Socioeconomic Rights, known by the acronym Sundde. The government accuses the owners of the targeted stores of jacking up prices by 300 to 500...

On January 20, 2017, the final day of the Obama presidency, America's national debt sat at a total combined amount of nearly $19.95 trillion.Since President Barack Hussein Obama was inaugurated into office eight years earlier, he, the democrats, and a few spineless republican "leaders" in congress have increased the total combined national debt by over $9.3 trillion: Date                 Debt Held by the Public         Intragovernmental Holdings   Total Public Debt Outstanding 1/20/2009        6,307,310,739,681.66            4,319,566,309,231.42               10,626,877,048,913.08 1/20/2017        14,403,704,176,388.94     ...

U.S. women's apparel chain The Limited filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Tuesday after closing all 250 stores, the latest brick-and-mortar retailer to fall victim to changing tastes and online competitors. The retailer that began as a single store more than 50 years ago blamed declining mall traffic, falling sales, expensive leases and the shift toward online shopping. Retailers filing for bankruptcy in the past year include Aeropostale Inc (AROPQ.PK), Pacific Sunwear of California Inc (PSUN.MU), Sports Authority, Vestis Retail Group and American Apparel. In addition, department store chains such as Sears Holdings Corp (SHLD.O) and Macy's Inc (M.N)...

The first entirely vegan supermarket chain has filed for bankruptcy due to a lack of demand, according to reports on Monday. The chain Veganz, which shuns animal products, will close at least four of its nine of its branches after announcing its bankruptcy in December, Lebensmittelzeitung reported. Jan Bredack, the founder of the chain, told the paper: “The model of the vegan supermarket outstripped itself, because of the growing supply of vegan produce.” …

As the new Congress convenes, budget cutters are eyeing Medicare, citing forecasts the program for seniors is running out of money. But federal bean counters have erroneously predicted Medicare’s bankruptcy for decades. One reason: They don’t consider medical breakthroughs. Another problem is medical ethicists like Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, who insist the elderly are a burden and that resources would be better spent on the young. The facts prove otherwise. New medical findings give plenty of reason for optimism about the cost of caring for the elderly. Medicare spending on end-of-life care is dropping rapidly, down from 19 percent to 13...

With temperatures hovering around zero across Maine on Friday, people in Somerset County checking on propane prices may have been greeted with a political message from one dealer. If you voted for Donald Trump for president, I will no longer be delivering your gas,” says a voicemail message at Turner LP Gas in Skowhegan. “Please find someone else.” The company is owned by Michael Turner, who didn’t immediately respond to a message on Friday. But he could be turning away a lot of business, given that the Republican president-elect won Somerset County with 58 percent of votes. Some cases like...

After losing a lawsuit and facing a $7.8 million dollar judgment, Service Employees International Union Texas, alias SEIU District Five, has declared bankruptcy in order to escape the judgment. The plaintiff is going after the national union, as it should, so stand by lots more court appeals, But so far, the SEIU is losing at every step. Bill McMorris has an excellent account of the case and its background, at the Free Beacon. I recommend it. The bare bones of the story of this case paint a picture of a thuggish organization, in my opinion. It expanded into Texas by...

The mayor of Dallas uses the word “bankruptcy,” and the New York Times and Wall Street Journal swoop in to report on the city’s imminent doom. The mayor of Houston holds a press conference to declare the pension problem solved, and folks just go along with it. The truth is that the two cities are in equally dreadful trouble, headed for bankruptcy, as are Fort Worth and El Paso, thanks to delusional forecasting, ludicrous system design, and meddlesome union-funded lawmakers from across the state who’ve stripped big-city voters of their right to govern their own finances. How mismanaged are these...