An inescapable result of high interest rates and post-pandemic trends is downward pressure on commercial real estate valuations, especially in the office sector. Given commercial mortgage-backed securities and other deal structures in which control of the loan rests with the lowest priority interest that is in the money, reduced valuations will likely become the flashpoint for CRE litigation.
Commercial real estate (CRE) sectors have not escaped the perma-crisis era in which we live, and the worst appears yet to come. First, hospitality and retail suffered setbacks with pandemic lockdowns. Then, the persistence of work-from-home and employee resistance to returning to the office drastically changed the flow of workers to the office and urban centers. Now, before those issues are...
Joseph Cioffi was quoted in an SCI article, "ABS Litigation 'Rules of Engagement' Explained."
In a recent Reuters Legal News article, Joseph Cioffi and Nicole Serratore discuss the Eleventh Circuit Hunstein case and the series of appeals which call into question debt collectors' routine practice of sharing consumer information with third-party vendors as part of collection activities.
The “Location, Location, Location” mantra intended to mean the three things that matter most in real estate should be replaced by “Valuation, Valuation, Valuation.” Valuation is the foundation of a successful CMBS deal and key to setting expectations, from cash flow to recovery. It should take paramount importance in times of economic flux because when, as now, there is uncertainty and the...
Residential mortgage warehouse providers acting under repurchase or “repo” agreements as buyers should be assured that safe harbors under the Bankruptcy Code will permit them to enforce their rights under repurchase agreements when originators file for bankruptcy, but, in reality, third parties may interfere.
Joseph Cioffi was quoted in The Wall Street Journal, "Bank of America to Pay $1.84 Billion to Settle Last Major Mortgage-Crisis Suit."
