Law and legal issues

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder Monday tapped Detroit CFO Jack Martin to be the new emergency manager of the city's troubled school system.

Detroit bondholders may have a new worry after a judge ruled that Jefferson County, Ala., could have paid legal bills for its bankruptcy from cash that was going to pay warrant holders owed $3 billion.

A San Mateo County civil grand jury called a school district's capital appreciation bonds outstanding a "ticking time bomb."

Trade organizations allege that New York City's building department ignored plumbing and fire safety codes when it OK'd Forest City Ratner's high-rise next to the Barclays Center.

Teetering Harrisburg, Pa., will sell artifacts in a Guernsey's-run auction that ex-Mayor Stephen Reed had bought in a failed attempt to start a Wild West museum.

Bondholders of the nearly $6 billion of Detroit water and sewer debt hold one of the strongest hands for recovery as Detroit emergency manager Kevyn Orr tries to restructure the city's massive debt load.

The Stockton City Council approved placing a measure to increase the bankrupt city's sales tax on a November ballot.

Bankrupt Jefferson County, Ala., is seeking bids from underwriting firms to assist with its $1.89 billion sewer warrant refinancing obligation later this year.

San Bernardino filed papers on Friday requesting the judge issue a summary judgment in its favor on its eligibility to be in Chapter 9 bankruptcy ahead of an interim hearing on summary judgment planned for next Wednesday.

In the first formal push against Detroit emergency manager Kevyn Orr's restructuring plan, Ambac Assurance Corp. Monday called the plan harmful to the city's future and said it has hired an advisory firm.

A New York State appellate court's upholding of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's payroll mobility tax is a credit positive for the transit agency, Moody's Investors Service said Monday.

Detroit sued Syncora Guarantee Inc. in state court Friday, accusing the bond insurer of blocking access to casino revenue and interfering with delicate negotiations over interest-rate swaps hedging pension certificates.

California State Treasurer Bill Lockyer on Wednesday released a report on the Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency that found the toll agency could eventually default on its bond payment obligations without a proposed $2.21 billion restructuring of the agency's debt.

Once considered relatively isolated from Detroit's problems, its $6 billion of water and sewer debt have been been pushed into junk territory by two of the three major ratings agencies.

Moody's Investors Service says a court ruling in favor of Puerto Rico government’s pension overhaul is a credit positive for the commonwealth.

A parish school board and a Louisiana teachers union are suing the state for $200 million over a lengthy freeze of aid to local education.

Moody's removed Rhode Island's GO debt from review for downgrade after the state passed an $8.2 billion budget that included a $2.5 million 38 Studios bond payment.

Alabama's Jefferson County expects to propose a closing agreement to the Internal Revenue Service within a few weeks on nearly $3.1 billion of outstanding sewer revenue warrants.

Orange County, Calif. supervisors released a formal response this week to a scathing 35-page report from a grand jury alleging what jurors perceived as a pattern of corruption.

Breaking a weeks-long silence, a spokesman for Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder told The Bond Buyer that the state supports Detroit's plan to default and treat its GO debt as unsecured. It answers a question that's been on the mind of the muni market since Kevyn Orr unveiled his controversial plan in June.