Commercial lending

Landlord groups have challenged the policy, arguing that the administration bowed to political pressure even though it knew the eviction freeze wouldn’t pass muster with the courts.

The industry had tightened up last year in the face of COVID-19. But as the economic outlook improves, banks are now easing criteria amid heightened competition, according to the Federal Reserve’s survey of loan officers.

The lack of a stabilizing force in the commercial real estate mortgage business is creating one of the most significant threats the lending industry faces, writes the CEO of Cirrus.

Fears of a permanent exodus from office life may have been premature, according to a study that finds a majority of businesses plan changes, but no significant downsizing of space.

The owner of former Sears stores is looking to sell as many as 50 properties as it tries to generate cash and focus on the development of other sites it owns.

Growing CRE mortgage volumes raised the bar for the coming year despite lingering concerns, according to the CRE Finance Council.

Fears of widespread credit losses have largely subsided, but demand for new commercial real estate loans remains lackluster because many companies are sitting on so much cash they don’t need to borrow. Meanwhile, competition from private equity groups and other nonbank lenders is escalating.

Raising the capital gains tax and code changes could have more of an impact on the public debt market than rising interest rates, according to a panelist at the Urban Land Institute's Spring event.

While the government passed sweeping measures last year to prevent mass homelessness among renters, there was no targeted help for mom-and-pop property owners who provide much of America’s affordable housing.

A PIMCO-sponsored HELOC securitzation, as well as a mortgage-insurance linked transaction, are the latest examples of issuers getting a head start on switching to an expected replacement benchmark for Libor.

Like the fintechs SoFi and LendingClub, DLP Real Estate Capital is acquiring a community bank largely to lower the cost of funding loans.

Already contending with stressed retail, hotel and restaurant loans, bankers are beginning to view office lending — historically a safe bet — as increasingly risky as companies of all types rethink their space needs.

The California company acquired Civic Financial Services, which makes loans to residential real estate investors.

The struggling movie-theater chain is among once-risky debt investments reaping big gains after day traders helped fuel the sudden stock surge.

The firm will invest in loans in health care, real estate, equipment and transportation, as well as corporate sectors backed by contractual cash flows, according to a statement Tuesday.

Commercial real estate portfolios have held up better than expected during the pandemic. But rising delinquencies and fears of a delayed economic recovery are renewing questions about credit quality.

The recent stimulus law’s relief for renters and extension of the federal eviction ban were meant to ward off a housing crisis. But owners of 1- to 4-unit dwellings still face mounting mortgage and property tax debts, and delinquencies could start rising soon — followed by foreclosures.

Reports indicate distressed owners would rather surrender their hotel or retail properties instead of negotiate workouts on delinquent loans as the pandemic spread carries on.

The river of red ink will likely begin to flow in the new year, due not only to the pandemic itself, but also to longer-term secular trends that have been accelerated by COVID-induced changes in the economy, says DebtX President and CEO Kingsley Greenland.

The architects of two major loan deals featuring Black banks, one involving multiple lenders and a pro sports franchise and another backed by Citigroup, say more transactions like these are in the works.