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As I’m writing this, I’m getting ready to attend CREFC’s 30th New York City Annual Conference and bacchanal.  Once again, we will enjoy the company of our confreres, we will network, we will get educated (yes, CREFC members do actually attend substantive sessions) and will all enjoy the curious joys of the Marriott Marquis (are…

The current administration’s legislative initiatives are largely bottled up in a split Congress, so the path toward achieving the White House’s policy priorities runs almost exclusively through the executive order and rule-making process and boy, have they worked it hard. 

But Santa is coming down the chimney delivering lumps of coal so often these days…

Folks, last week I made the point that it’s extremely important to confront negative narratives about our industry before they take hold, creep into the interstices between things that are true and then somehow ossified into received wisdom.  So, taking on board my own advice, which shockingly I find compelling, I want to sound the alarm about a recent Wall Street Journal story concerning the misstatement of net operating income in our industry (I only wish I could qualify as an influencer here.  I read about two teens with millions of followers this weekend; they talk about stuff like..their hair.  Is there anyone out there that wants to know about my hair?).
Continue Reading CMBS On The Perp Walk: We Are Being Set Up!

Last Friday, Law360 published its interview with Crunched Credit’s own Rick Jones as part of its Coronavirus Q&A series. In his interview, Rick discusses the effects COVID-19 has had on the commercial mortgage-backed securities market, reflects on how the current financial climate compares to that of the Great Recession, and contemplates the future of capital…

My last commentary, Playing with Broken Toys in Coronavirus Land, touched on the notion that sometimes following rules can guarantee a bad outcome.  I’ll leave more important musings about ethics and morality aside here (I still don’t have a clue about what Kant was nattering on about) and focus on the more mundane question of whether one should do what a contract says when the contract conflicts with the exercise of good judgment.
Continue Reading “I Was Just Following Orders”

As is our tradition here at Crunched Credit, each year, about this time, we award our Golden Turkey Awards.  Once again, I must say that we are utterly blessed with so many worthy candidates. The truly deserving have once again wrangled with vision and astounding persistence to earn a spot on our acclaimed list.  To…

In order to avoid burying the lead, let me tell you where I’m going here.  The CRE securitization business is in trouble.  We need to throw out what biologists call the punctuated equilibrium, where once a system initially stabilizes, it thereafter changes little and resists radical change.  Elsewise, our business is at very material risk of irrelevance.

But to give you some time to mull all that over, let me set the table first.  I’ve been worried…Continue Reading It’s Time to Fix Securitization: Are We Dinosaurs Staring Into the Tar Pit?

Contagion, at least of the buggy sort, can make for a terrific, spooky movie. Remember Gwyneth Paltrow and Matt Damon in Contagion? (Spoiler alert – she dies early on.) Got to admit, I love The Stand and Captain Trips; we all love a good scare… in the movies. In reality, however, contagion means bad things are happening: Bubonic Plague, excess body piercings and the 24 hour news stories (in no particular order). Contagion is very scary.
Continue Reading Contagion