This week, over a thousand industry participants made their way through a rain soaked Manhattan for the start of CREFC’s Annual Conference. The low hum of attendees taking conference calls in corners and tapping messages on iphones provided a constant auditory backdrop to the event and aptly conveyed the velocity of the CMBS industry in … Continue Reading
Next week, hundreds of industry participants will make their way to New York for CREFC’s Annual Conference. The conference promises to provide a forum to explore present and future market trends in commercial real estate, as well as an opportunity to gain valuable insight from many leaders in the market as to where we are … Continue Reading
The FDIC’s new rules (promulgated per the requirements of the Dodd-Frank Act) for calculating deposit insurance assessments for insured depository institutions, including "large institutions" and "highly complex institutions," are set to become effective on April Fool’s Day, 2013. No kidding. As institutions of this type are active investors in CLOs, particularly the “AAA”-rated tranche of CLOs, … Continue Reading
February has certainly been a big month for federal agencies to issue long-awaited final rules. The latest agency to throw its hat into the ring is the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which recently codified its long standing position that liability under the Fair Housing Act may be proven by disparate impact without … Continue Reading
Arguably the largest gathering of capital markets professionals in the world, ASF 2013 had over 5,300 registrants as of Monday morning according to Tom Deutsch, Executive Director, American Securitization Forum. Vegas is bustling and it’s always a pleasure to conveniently be out of town when there’s messy weather back east.… Continue Reading
Yesterday, Moody’s issued a Sector Comment expressing concerns with respect to proposed REO-To-Rental deals structured to utilize a collateral package comprised of equity-pledges in the SPV property owners in lieu of individual mortgage liens. Moody’s indicated that such equity-pledge structures may need to have strong third-party oversight (including regular monitoring of the ownership of individual … Continue Reading
After a night of fun at Dechert’s party at the SLS Hotel, many of us needed a pick-me-up on Tuesday morning. Those of us that dragged ourselves out of bed and into the roundtable discussion on market issues and opportunities were not disappointed. The quick hitting discussion by over two dozen industry insiders, including Crunched Credit’s … Continue Reading
South Beach will welcome over 1200 lenders, borrowers, servicers, lawyers and other service providers to the January 2013 CREFC Conference for another party in the city where the heat is on. The conference kicks off on Monday with a series of forums for agency investors, high yield debt investors, issuers, portfolio lenders, servicers, B-Piece buyers … Continue Reading
As Philadelphians, it’s easy to think that 2012 has been a disappointment. Our beloved Eagles are 4-9, the Phillies had the most disappointing season in recent history and the Sixers traded last year’s best player for someone who has not yet set foot on the court this season (to avoid any rage from hockey fans, … Continue Reading
One of this year’s most discussed investment ideas is the conversion of distressed or foreclosed single family homes into rental properties on a mass scale. With the FHFA’s Real Estate Owned Initiative offering product in bulk sales and major institutions stepping up to develop programs to finance the acquisition of the pools, REO-to-Rental strategies are … Continue Reading
Last month, Federal District Court Judge Milton I. Shadur (a long-time Federal Judge and something of a legal legend in Illinois) held a guarantor liable for a deficiency claim brought in connection with a Georgia foreclosure – notwithstanding the fact that the deficiency could not be pursued under Georgia law. The case – Inland Mortgage … Continue Reading
Federal fair lending laws prohibit discrimination in credit transactions. The Equal Credit Opportunity Act (“ECOA”) and the Fair Housing Act prohibit discrimination in mortgage lending on the basis of certain factors including race or color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, age, handicap or an applicant’s receipt of public assistance funds. The spotlight in this … Continue Reading
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (the “CFPB”) is currently charged with defining a “Qualified Mortgage” (a “QM”). The federal banking agencies, the SEC, the FHFA and the Department of HUD are jointly charged with defining a “Qualified Residential Mortgage” (a “QRM”), and the QRM definition cannot be any broader than the QM definition. A narrowly … Continue Reading
It’s no secret that California has been hit harder than most states by the housing crisis. Just east of Los Angeles, the county of San Bernardino has cities with some of the highest foreclosure rates in the U.S. On July 18, the San Bernardino City Council declared a fiscal emergency and voted to file for … Continue Reading
May a Chapter 11 plan permit a debtor to auction property free and clear of a creditor’s lien while preventing that creditor from credit-bidding the amount of its debt? A question that split the U.S. Circuit Courts was settled when earlier this week the Supreme Court came out 8-0 on the side of the secured … Continue Reading
With little good news on the horizon for the U.S. residential housing market, public and private programs offering the sale of bulk residential REO is, in many circles, the topic for real estate investment. The REO-to-Rental play is not without its risks – questions about the availability of financing and the viability of a structured … Continue Reading
Recently, several courts have published decisions interpreting the rights granted to mezzanine lenders under intercreditor agreements – I’ve recently co-authored this Dechert OnPoint detailing the cases. These decisions, in large part, follow the holding of the Stuytown decision (not great news for many subordinate lenders). Also, a recent decision from the United States Bankruptcy Court … Continue Reading
That great whooshing sound you heard a few weeks back may have been the air being sucked out of the room for thousands of warm bodies that penned recourse guaranties on (now) underwater loans during the market’s run-up. The cause: two recent cases coming out of Michigan (Wells Fargo Bank, NA v. Cherryland Mall and 51382 Gratiot Avenue … Continue Reading
For those of us with a rooting interest in Sunday’s festivities, it’s been a long two weeks. By Superbowl Saturday, Coach Belichick’s game plan will be set, the Material Girl’s setlist will be planned and the most famous ankle since Curt’s Bloody Sock will (hopefully) be mended, and it is with that in mind that … Continue Reading
Over a thousand lenders, borrowers, servicers, lawyers and other service providers have descended on Miami for three days of networking, meeting and doing things you just can’t do in DC. After a Sunday spent checking in, catching up and Tebowing, the conference kicked off in earnest this morning. I started my day with a PSA … Continue Reading
In August I wrote about an amendment to a Chicago vacant buildings ordinance that I thought (and I was one of many) was crazy, despite being sympathetic to the plight resulting from the city’s blight. The City of Chicago subsequently passed a less onerous, yet still problematic, vacant buildings ordinance effective as of November 19, … Continue Reading
While wrapping your holiday presents, don’t forget about another regulatory gift that springs to life as of the new year: Rule 193 and the accompanying joys of Items 1111(a)(7) and 1111(a)(8) of Reg AB. The final rules for Dodd-Frank’s Section 945 – which we at CrunchedCredit.com have addressed before – are almost a year old and their … Continue Reading
Acting in response to last week’s removal of the Occupy Wall Street, er, Occupants from, well, Wall Street, a Suffolk county judge ordered that the City of Boston obtain the court’s leave prior to relocating the current Occupants of Boston back to their dorm rooms. The order is temporary, and the judge intends to hear … Continue Reading
