By Mairi V. Luce and Klara Bradbury
In Wingspire Equipment Finance LLC v. E-Crane International USA Inc., the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware closed a long-running equipment-financing dispute with a practical warning for lenders: Funding a borrower’s purchase of equipment does not, by itself, give the lender an interest in the equipment or a direct claim against the vendor. The decisions in the case are a reminder that an equipment lender needs a documented path to title, control or other enforceable collateral rights to ensure it has a path to recovery in the event of a bankruptcy scenario.