Nov. 14 (Bloomberg) -- CIT Group Inc., the bankrupt 101- year-old commercial lender, won temporary protection from lenders seeking to collect losses from a non-bankrupt unit, as a judge said the unit must respond to some requests.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Allan Gropper in Manhattan granted CIT’s request for a preliminary injunction in court documents filed yesterday. The protection will last until the company exits bankruptcy, or Jan. 31. The order shields CIT Group/Equipment Financing Inc. from some demands by lenders.

The lenders and the units “shall negotiate and cooperate in good faith and use reasonable means to resolve any dispute related to calculation of the Required Payments,” Gropper wrote, adding that the order doesn’t apply to demands for “stipulated loss value” as calculated under the unit’s contracts. It also doesn’t apply to aircraft.

Lenders including Fifth Third Leasing Co., Wells Fargo Bank Northwest and Wilmington Trust Co. had objected to the shield for CIT’s non-bankrupt unit, saying the company failed to prove why it deserves the “extraordinary” measure of protecting an entity not in bankruptcy.

Subprime Mortgages

The unit holds leases for 115,000 railcars and 550 locomotives in the U.S. and Canada. If lenders try to collect from the units, it could lead to a loss of $680 million in value, CIT said in court documents.

CIT filed for bankruptcy Nov. 1, blaming losses on subprime mortgages and tightening credit markets. CIT listed $71 billion in assets and $64.9 billion in liabilities. The government probably won’t recover much, if any, of the $2.3 billion in taxpayer money that went to CIT and shareholders will be wiped out, according to CIT’s plan.

The New York-based lender, which funds about 1 million businesses such as Dunkin’ Brands Inc., plans to exit court protection next month. None of CIT’s operating units, including CIT Bank, were included in the filing.

The case is In re CIT Group Inc., 09-16565, U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

To contact the reporter on this story: Tiffany Kary in New York at tkary@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 14, 2009 00:01 EST