(Reuters) – The U.S. judge in the trial over Stockton, California’s eligibility for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection from its creditors said on Wednesday that the “logical” day for disclosing his ruling would be next Monday.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Klein said he would need more time than anticipated to make a ruling regarding the issue, which is the subject of a trial that began Monday. “I’m pretty confident I will not be in a position to make my findings by Friday,” Klein said.
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The bankruptcy hearings for Stockton began yesterday, based upon the city’s petition for for Chapter 9 Bankruptcy which was filed on June 28th, 2012. We would think, after 9 months of filings, preliminary hearings, and thorough review by the judge, that a ruling would be promptly available, considering the size of the debt and the number of creditors affected. Perhaps the additional time to ‘deliberate’ has more to do with ex-parte review of the case which the judge has been istructed to submit to? I suspect this is the case, as Stockton will be used as a template for the impending surge in municipal bankruptcies.
WATCH THIS CLOSELY…
LT
