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Linda Skidbum has operated the Skidbum Fashion Company as an unincorporated proprietorship for many years. Skidmore now is in financial difficulty and has more liabilities

Linda Skidbum has operated the Skidbum Fashion Company as an unincorporated proprietorship for many years. Skidmore now is in financial difficulty and has more liabilities than assets. She lost $40,000 from operating this business during 2020 and had no significant outside income. Skidbum filed for bankruptcy on December 7, 2020. These debts include:

(a) Unpaid rent on a lease that Skidbum entered into on January 1, 2015 and that does not expire until December 31, 2020. Skidbum historically has always paid her monthly rent of $2,000 within five days of the first of every month. Skidbum paid her December monthly rent of $2.000 on December 3. Skidbum now has moved out of the leased property and told the landlord that she will not be returning to use it due to the failure of her business.

(b) Skidbum owes $70,000 on high-speed sewing equipment to Babble Bank. Babble Bank has a signed security agreement with Skidbum that it recorded in the public records at the time the Skidmore borrowed the money for the stated purpose of purchasing this sewing equipment from a manufacturer located in Korea. The equipment's fair value is $60,000.

(c) Skidbum also owes $32,000 on an unpaid loan owed to Brookings Bank. Skidbum's loan agreement was not in writing. To obtain this loan, Skidbum submitted false, overstated financial statements to Brookings Bank.

(d) Skidbum owns a house near UCLA and a summer cottage near Santa Barbara. She paid cash for each home, so these houses are debt-free.

(e) Skidbum owes unpaid alimony of $5,000 to her ex-husband.

(f) Skidbum owes unpaid legal fees relating to this bankruptcy of $8,000.

(g) Skidbum owes $9,000 of unpaid property taxes to the state of California.

(h) Skidbum owes $12,000 of unpaid salary to Smith, her company's Chief Marketing Officer.

Answer each of the following:

a. Will this bankruptcy filing likely be approved the court if Skidbum cannot locate at least three creditors willing to agree to her filing? State "yes" or "no."

b. Assume that the filing is approved. Is the court likely to appoint a trustee? Simply state "yes" or "no."

c. Regarding fact (a) stated above, would a court likely require Skidbum's landlord to return the December rent money it received for inclusion in the bankruptcy estate? Simply state "yes" or "no."

d. Assume that Skidbum's landlord used its best efforts to lease the empty property to a new tenant, but is only able to find a tenant willing to pay $1,900 per month due the impact of COVID-19 in slowing down the economy. Skidmore now has submitted a bankruptcy claim for the amount of $100 per month owed to it on the lease. If Skidbum's landlord had not searched to find a replacement tenant and had instead submitted a bankruptcy claim for $2,000, would the court have approved the landlord's full claim for $2,000 per month of unpaid rent?

e. Regarding fact (d) above, will the houses be included in Skidbum's bankruptcy estate?

f. Various possible claims are mentioned above. Which of these claims, partially or fully, create non-priority, general unsecured claims? That is, in distributing the liquidation proceeds from Skidbum's assets, which of these claims, partially or fully, will be given the lowest possible priority classification in bankruptcy?

g. Will any of the above possible claims not be discharged in bankruptcy? If yes, which ones? If no, state "None."

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