Elite Equipment Leasing is now in plan-solicitation mode, with the disclosure statement approved, votes and confirmation objections due July 1, 2026, and a confirmation hearing set for July 8, 2026 under the Disclosure Statement OrderDkt. 534. The case remains a reorganization case rather than a liquidation: the debtor group is trying to preserve a crane-rental and construction-services platform, collect project receivables, rationalize equipment, and emerge around a revised joint Chapter 11 plan.
The September 7, 2025 filing followed a liquidity squeeze at a heavily financed equipment business operating as Reliable Crane Service. The first-day record tied the distress to the 2020 tower-crane acquisition, whose monthly payments increased from about $90,000 to $160,000, integration problems after the 2021 Champion Crane acquisition, floating-rate equipment debt, short amortization on long-lived equipment, and project delays, while also describing a business with more than 500 pieces of heavy equipment, roughly 194 employees, and an $80 million-plus backlog anchored by major projects such as the Las Vegas Athletics stadium and One Beverly Hills First Day DeclarationDkt. 13. The same filing framed the capital structure as secured-debt-heavy, led by approximately $23.8 million owed to Commercial Funding Inc., $18.2 million owed to Commercial Credit Group, and $3.3 million owed to Celtic Bank, with additional junior and equipment-finance debt behind them First Day DeclarationDkt. 12.
The opening path was operational stabilization through cash collateral and CFI-backed DIP financing, not an immediate shutdown. The debtor sought authority for a $26 million revolving DIP facility, including roughly $2.2 million of new liquidity and a roll-up of CFI’s prepetition revolver, arguing that continued operations were necessary to protect about $20.9 million of accounts receivable and avoid value loss from abandoning active projects Cash Collateral and DIP MotionDkt. 4. That relief shaped the case around preserving jobs, keeping the fleet deployed, and using the Chapter 11 process to restructure secured debt, lengthen amortization, and shed or sell underutilized equipment.
The current docket points to two near-term tracks alongside confirmation. The debtor has noticed the July 8 confirmation hearing and solicitation procedures through the Confirmation Hearing NoticeDkt. 535, while also moving to employ Lanak & Hanna as special litigation counsel to preserve and prosecute a mechanics-lien foreclosure tied to amounts allegedly owed to the estates, with a June 8, 2026 filing deadline for that action Special Litigation Counsel ApplicationDkt. 539. The immediate question is therefore whether the debtor can clear voting and confirmation on the July timetable while continuing targeted asset and claims-recovery efforts that support the proposed reorganization.