The Impact of the Small Business Reorganization Act

A New Type of Relief

By Rebecca Mercieri Rivaux, Esq.

Small-business owners will soon have a more affordable option to reorganize their companies. In February 2020, the Small Business Reorganization Act (SBRA) will go into effect, providing a new type of relief to small-business debtors.

The SBRA creates a new subchapter within Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. While Chapter 11 bankruptcy generally provides for business reorganization (usually involving a corporation or partnership), it can be an unappealing option for many small-business debtors, due to complex procedural requirements and high legal and administrative costs. The SBRA will expedite reorganization for small-business debtors by streamlining the burdensome requirements of Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The SBRA is, in fact, very comparable to a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, the kind used by individuals. Just as with Chapter 13 filings for individuals, an SBRA debtor can expect to have a trustee appointed by the bankruptcy court. The court-appointed trustee will aid the small business in developing a reorganization plan, but is not likely to be involved in any operational aspects of the business. This essentially allows the debtor to remain in possession and control of their own business during the bankruptcy process. The trustee is responsible for disbursing payments to creditors under the reorganization plan.

In order to take advantage of the new SBRA, a debtor must first qualify as a small business. To qualify, the debtor must be a person or entity engaged in a commercial or business activity. If such a business has secured and unsecured debt totaling less than $2,725,625, the business may propose a reorganization plan under the SBRA — so long as they use net income to repay creditors.

This is in keeping with the general practices of Chapter 11, where a debtor usually proposes a plan of reorganization to keep its business in existence and pay creditors over time.

SBRA debtors must produce a copy of the business’ most recent balance sheet, a statement of operations, a cash-flow statement, and a federal income — or file a sworn statement that such documents do not exist.

The SBRA allows the small-business debtor to repay its creditors within a payment plan of three to five years, as the bankruptcy court determines. The SBRA also allows small-business debtors a greater opportunity to retain their ownership interests in their business, even when claims have not been repaid in full (in contrast with a typical Chapter 11 bankruptcy, where a shareholder cannot retain equity in the business unless creditors are paid in full).

To qualify, the debtor must be a person or entity engaged in a commercial or business activity. If such a business has secured and unsecured debt totaling less than $2,725,625, the business may propose a reorganization plan under the SBRA — so long as they use net income to repay creditors.

Another significant benefit to the SBRA is a specialized restructuring strategy offered to individual debtors. An individual who qualifies as a small-business debtor can modify the mortgage on his or her principal residence, provided that the mortgage loan was not used to acquire the real property, but was used primarily in connection with the debtor’s business — such as an individual who is borrowing against the equity in their home for the purpose of supporting their business. This individual small-business debtor would then be able to reduce the loan to the value of the secured claim, propose a lower interest rate, or extend the maturity date of the loan. Once the small-business debtor has completed all payments to creditors, a discharge is granted.  

Under the SBRA, the only excluded activity for the small business debtor is operating “single-asset real estate,” a term that describes a debtor who receives substantially all of its gross income from the operation of a single real property.

Despite this restriction, for many small business debtors, the SBRA will offer relief and a realistic means to reorganize and restructure their businesses under the Bankruptcy Code.

Rebecca Mercieri Rivaux is an associate with Bacon Wilson, P.C., and a member of the firm’s bankruptcy and business/corporate practice groups; [email protected]