Receiver (legal)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In law, a receiver is a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights."[1] Three types of receiver appointments exist: "1. a receiver appointed by a (government) regulator pursuant to a statute; 2. a privately-appointed receiver; and 3. a court-appointed receiver."[1] The receiver's powers "flow from the document(s) underlying his appointment -- a statute, financing agreement, or court order."[1]

Court-appointed receivers are "the most powerful and independent of the judicially-appointed managers."[2] Unlike special masters and monitors, "the receiver completely displaces the defendants: the receiver makes large and small decisions, spends the organization’s funds, and controls hiring and firing determinations."[2] Examples of court-appointed receivers include:

  • In the District of Columbia, the jail’s medical care facility "was placed under court-ordered receivership in August 1995, after the District was held in contempt for repeatedly failing to implement court orders... intended to ensure adequate medical services to jail inmates."[3] The receivership ended in September 2000.[4]
  • A U.S. District Judge appointed a receiver for the multi-level marketing company Equinox International in August 1999.[5] As of 2007, the receiver was authorized to distribute settlement funds from the now-defunct company to approved claimants.[6]
  • After placing the California state prison health care system into receivership in June 2005[2], a U.S. District Judge appointed a receiver for it in February 2006.[7] The California Prison Health Care Receivership attempts "to bring medical care in California prisons up to constitutional standards."[8]
  • In February 2007, a judge in Florida appointed a receiver for companies owned by Lou Pearlman that defrauded investors.[9] The receiver later said about the companies "I don't see much in the way of hard assets that are worth anything or are not already fully encumbered [with debt]."[10]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Philip, Ken, and Kerin Kaminski. Receivership: A Value-Adding Tool. Secured Lender, January/February 2007, Vol. 63 Issue 1, pages 30-34,36.
  2. ^ a b c Bradley, Catherine Megan. Old Remedies Are New Again: Deliberate Indifference and the Receivership in Plata v. Schwarzenegger. 62 N.Y.U. Ann. Surv. Am. L. 703 (2007).
  3. ^ Ekstrand, Laurie E. District of Columbia Receivership: Selected Issues Related to Medical Services at the D.C. Jail. United States General Accounting Office, June 30, 2000. Testimony GAO/T-GGD-00-173.
  4. ^ District of Columbia Jail: Medical Services Generally Met Requirements and Costs Decreased, but Oversight Is Incomplete. United States General Accounting Office, June 2004. Report GAO-04-750.
  5. ^ Geer, Carri. Court-appointed receiver to retain control of Equinox Corp. for now. Las Vegas Review-Journal, August 18, 1999.
  6. ^ Page of Robb Evans, Receiver of Equinox International Corp. Accessed 10 Nov 2007.
  7. ^ Moore, Solomon. Using Muscle to Improve Health Care for Prisoners. New York Times, August 27, 2007.
  8. ^ California Prison Health Care Receivership Corporation page. Accessed 10 Nov 2007.
  9. ^ Huntley, Helen. Regulators call Pearlman savings plan a fraud. St. Petersburg Times, February 3, 2007.
  10. ^ Lieberman, David. Missing music king loses his throne. USA Today, April 10, 2007.