Bankruptcy Terms and Definitions

Cash collateral
Cash and cash equivalents held by the debtor in Chapter 11 subject to liens of other parties.

Chapter Thirty Three
An unofficial term describing a company that has filed for Chapter 11 three times.

Voluntary bankruptcy
Bankruptcy filed by the debtor itself; data from the U.S. Administrative Office of the Courts subdivides bankruptcies into voluntary and involuntary.

Bankruptcy Court
The federal tribunal where cases under the Bankruptcy Code are litigated.

Small claims
Also sometimes called convenience claims - under a plan of reorganization or liquidation, claims that are small (e.g. in the hundreds or thousands of dollars range) and numerous are often grouped into a single class and settled for cash for administrative convenience.

Disclosure statement
A comprehensive disclosure document sent to creditors when they are asked to vote on a plan of reorganization in Chapter 11.

Straight bankruptcy
An informal term for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy or liquidation; used more commonly to describe liquidation before the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978.

Post-petition
Occurring after the filing of a petition. Preference - a payment by a debtor made during a specified period (90 days or one year) prior to the filing that favors one creditor over others.

Reamortization
If your loan is reamortized, the delinquency is added to the loan balance in order to bring your payments up to date. This increases your loan amount and will also increase your monthly payments.

Chapter Twenty
An unofficial term describing the filing of a Chapter 7 proceeding followed by a Chapter 13.