Michael D. Pinsky, Esq.
After serving in the U.S. Air Force, Michael Pinsky attended the College of Charleston and the University of Texas School of Law. He began bankruptcy practice in Houston in 1986 representing banks and real estate developers. From the late 1980s through the mid-90s, Michael represented debtors and secured creditors in chapter 11 cases in the Northern District of Georgia. He moved back to New York in 1995 and established his own practice.
More About Michael D. Pinsky, Esq.
Admissions: New York; United States District Courts for the Eastern, Northern and Southern Districts; United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Memberships: New York State Bar Association, the State Bar of Texas (inactive), the American Bankruptcy Institute, and the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys.
Clients have included hundreds of New Yorkers seeking a fresh start in cases under Chapter 7 and 13 of the Bankruptcy Code, as well as businesses and local governments.
Debtor Small Business Chapter 11 Cases Include:
- Ellenville Community Hospital: a struggling rural community hospital in Ulster County that had suffered a fatal Legionnaires’ Disease outbreak and a loss of referrals from local physicians. A successful chapter 11 case resulted in the sale of the facility as a going concern and prevented the hospital from closing.
- Watson Services, Inc.: a government contractor proving turnkey food service to 3 of the 4 military service academies. After resolving litigation with the Navy, the debtor confirmed a plan to sell its remaining government contracts to a regional non-profit entity.
- RAMZ Realty LLC: successfully confirming a plan over the objection of its largest secured creditor, extending a construction loan to a 20-year term loan on favorable terms.
- Ralston-Lippincott-Hasbrouck-Ingrassia Funeral Home, Inc., et al.: confirming a negotiated plan to restructure the finances of four affiliated funeral homes.
- Helen Marie Simonsen, Inc.: confirming a chapter 11 plan to save a horse farm from foreclosure.
- Woodstock Landscaping & Excavating, LLC: confirming a subchapter V chapter 11 case after aggressive litigation tactics by a merchant cash advance lender forced the company into bankruptcy.
- 1501 Route 9W, LLC: preventing foreclosure of a small real estate development business and negotiating a subchapter V consensual plan that restructured the company’s secured debt.
- Foundry Development Group, LLC: bankruptcy sale of historically significant Newburgh commercial property for residential re-development.
- Mark Lavon Helm (a/k/a Levon Helm) and Sandy Helm: Recovering from a battle with throat cancer, the case provided a foundation on which the founder and drummer for The Band emerged to win 2 consecutive Grammy Awards.
Other Chapter 11 Cases:
- Catskill Distilling Company, Ltd: represented the successful bidder at bankruptcy auction for the assets of a troubled Sullivan County distillery.
- Polonia Towers, LLC: successfully represented the City of Middletown as the guarantor of a $1.1 million Community Development Block Grant Program loan to a failed multi-use commercial property owner in downtown Middletown.
- King Center Corp. v. City of Middletown: Successfully defended the city against an adversary proceeding challenging the city’s home rule tax foreclosure process.
- Neil’s Mazel, Inc.: Successfully defended Ulster County from bankruptcy litigation by the former Tamarack Lodge to establish gaming on the premises.
Bankruptcy litigation cases for homeowners include:
- Foreclosure Rescue Scam: Filed for chapter 13 relief for victims of a foreclosure rescue scam while litigating to unwind the scheme with the straw man’s lenders in state court. The litigation resulted in the return of the clients’ home despite the fraudster’s absence from the litigation; the (very) short payment of the straw man’s second mortgage, and the assumption and modification of that individual’s first mortgage on very favorable terms.
- Appraisal & Mortgage Broker Fraud: In a case involving a fraudulent appraisal submitted by a mortgage broker to support an unaffordable mortgage loan, court-ordered discovery from the originating lender (following removal of the lender’s foreclosure action to the Bankruptcy Court and the filing of counterclaims) revealed red flags concerning valuation in the lender’s underwriting file. That led to a settlement including significant interest rate and principal reductions, the lender’s forgiveness of all arrears and payment of the clients’ real estate taxes.
- Mortgage Servicing Abuse: A rare instance of provable fraudulent inducement to ‘suspend’ making monthly mortgage payments in order to ‘qualify’ for a loan modification. The clients did stop making payments as advised, and several months later had their application denied and a foreclosure commenced. In Chapter 13, an objection to the lender’s claim and a counterclaim for fraud, etc. led to a very favorable litigation modification of the mortgage, including a principal write-down and payment of the client’s attorneys’ fees.
- Breach of Contract: Successful litigation against a national bank mortgage servicer for breach of the clients’ contract to modify their loan. The resolution of the case included the write-off of several years’ worth of mortgage payments.
Continuing Legal Education Seminars
