New Jersey Residential Developer Hovbilt, Inc. Seeks Chapter 11 Relief

By:  Justin A. Saporito, MAZURKRAEMER Law Clerk and Salene Mazur Kraemer, Owner                Hovbilt, Inc. filed a voluntary petition for bankruptcy relief under Chapter 11 of the bankruptcy code on September 17^th, 2013.  The case was filed in the Bankruptcy Court of New Jersey and the case was assigned to the Honorable Judge Michael B. Kaplan under case number 3:13-bk-30341.  For a summary of the docket please click here.Debtor claims assets between $0 and $50,000 with liabilities of $1 to $10 million.  In its petition, it lists 10 creditors including Home Depot and Sovereign Bank.  (Please see the docket summary for a complete list of creditors.)  Sovereign Bank filed for a Notice of Appearance and Request for Service of Notice by its duly appointed counsel in response to Debtor’s voluntary petition for Chapter 11 relief.  The petition, as filed, was incomplete and the Attorney Disclosure Statement, Statement of Financial Affairs, Summary of Schedules, and Incomplete Filings are due by October 1^st, 2013.This Chapter 11 Debtor's exclusive right to file a plan of reorganization expires on January 15, 2014.CHAPTER 11 DEBTOR TIP: Every Chapter 11 Debtor should know that upon the commencement of a chapter 11 case, Bankruptcy Code section 1121 gives a debtor-in-possession (“DIP”) the exclusive right to file a plan of reorganization for 120 days (4 months).  The DIP also has the exclusive right to solicit acceptances (votes) for a plan filed within that 120-day period until 180 days (6 months) after filing for chapter 11.  (A debtor may file a plan but creditors may not actually vote on the plan until an accompanying approved Disclosure Statement and set of ballots are served).  No competing plans may be filed during this period of exclusivity.  A creditor, a creditors' committee, or another special interest committee may be one of the parties filing a competing plan.   Sometimes various parties join together to file a "jointly proposed" competing plan.  See helpful article regarding exclusivity written by Salene' brother-in-law's fine law firm Jones Day.This Debtor is a property developer specializing in residential housing developments located at 1 Dag Hammarskjold Blvd. Freehold, NJ 07728.  Hovilt, Inc. was established in 1969 as a private company categorized as a speculative building of single-family houses and primarily operated in Monmouth and Ocean Counties in New Jersey. (source)Debtor is represented by James G. Aaron of Ansell Grimm and Aaron PC located at 1500 Lawrence Avenue CN 7807 Ocean, NJ 07712.