Banking Misconduct Blog

An article recently appeared on Syracuse.com. The title of the article was Inside Destiny USA’s Mortgage Emergency… Crisis or Hardball Bargaining? Destiny USA is the 6th largest retail mall in the United States. The journalist who wrote the article, Rick Moriarty, noted that the...

Can a Lender Put Me in Default for a Technical Breach?
Here is a chilling scenario that happens more than you think. Borrower secures commercial mortgage back securities (CMBS) or other financing for the purchase of an office building or shopping mall. After a major tenant leaves, the...

Anyone commercial property owner facing a special servicer soon learns the deck is stacked. Many commercial loans today are securitized and packages into loan pools. These pools are sold to a trust that is owned by institutional investors. Unlike a bank that has offices and employees, a CMBS trust...

As I write this post from my hotel room in Kingston, New York, a Toys R Us store sits empty in the parking lot across the street. Toys R Us is one of many big box retailers that have either closed completely or are going through a dramatic downsizing. For mall owners, that could mean...

Distressed investing is the politically correct term these days for buyers of distressed properties. There will always be property owners that find themselves in over their heads. Sometimes their problems arise from unforeseen market events and at other times, it is just from being inexperienced...

We are no fans of special servicers. At the top of our list of bad commercial loan servicers are CWCapital Asset Management (“CW Capital”) and LNR Partners. We have litigated complex CMBS cases against both companies, something few lawyers have done. Because our practice is so unique,...

[Ed. Note - If you own a commercial property and find your loan has been transferred to a special servicer, READ THIS POST.]
The owners of a Ft. Wayne shopping center have filed suit against special servicer LNR Partners and others over a mortgage covering the property where the center is...

Between 1990 and today, some 8500 banks have disappeared. (Since the banking crisis in 2008, 525 banks have closed by regulators according to problembanklist.com) In most instances, FDIC insurance will protect deposits. The real harm often comes to commercial borrowers.

Danger Faced...

Understanding Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities (CMBS) can be a daunting task for the novice investor. As lender liability lawyers, we grapple with complex loan arrangements daily. We understand the jargon, the many different players in a CMBS transaction and how all the pieces fit together....

We have written many articles on this blog highlighting the myriad of problems facing borrowers with projects financed by Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities (CMBS) loans. Most of these loans were written in 2006 and 2007 and carried a 10 year loan term. That means they are coming due now or in...