In difficult economic times, the strain is felt by everyone, including entrepreneurs involved in all aspects of creating and running businesses. Considering the fact that commercial property loans are usually the biggest liability of a company, it is no wonder that so many such loans are in default, which only makes the bigger economic picture worse. Bankruptcy is rarely the most beneficial option, even when it seems like the only option. Commercial loan restructuring could be an answer to prevent loan default and bankruptcy, providing a much-needed second chance at survival.Though it is definitely not an easy process, commercial loan restructuring is probably worth looking into at the very least. There is much that needs to be known about restructuring and it may be beneficial if not essential to hire a loss mitigation professional to work on behalf of a business to try to find a resolution. In what could be a highly complex process, experienced professionals are the best way for a failing business to find some type of relaxation on mortgages. Following are some important factors to consider.Commercial Mortgage-Backed Security (CMBS) – These loans can be exceptionally difficult to get restructured because of how they are financed. It is not only lending institutions backing them but private commercial property investors involved with multiple loans and investments. Therefore, one of the main problems in trying to obtain a commercial restructure involves tracking down all loan-backing names to be included in the process.
Special Servicers – There are often difficulties in dealing with ‘Special Servicers’ who are financial professionals that take over commercial accounts that are either into or going into default. The task is to get a debt out of default; with no real connection to either party, frequently whatever can be done to push a loan straight to foreclosure and liquidation is carried out. In some cases, such a direction could be the best thing; however, in many cases especially considering a lot of the CMBS investors will lose money, it is not the best move and investors fight the Special Servicers on foreclosure. Part of the issue with this scenario is that there is little regulation preventing this from happening. When all is over, a fee is paid and the case is considered closed; to the business and investors, it is in most cases a huge financial loss.
Outside Help – The biggest reason for hiring a professional on behalf of a business itself is to analyze things and fight for options other than foreclosure. When done successfully through restructures that might involve interest reductions, principal reductions, or even acquiring the financial support of an additional investor may be a wise move. It is true that this does involve much intensive work, which is the very reason that Special Servicers try to bypass this.
Best Option – With this in mind, it needs to be carefully determined whether restructuring is best for the loan or if it would be better to let Special Servicers handle it all. Change is happening today in regard to such arrangements and how these people are allowed to dictate what happens. Both the banking industries and government have realized that this sector of the loan industry is potentially making things worse for business owners and the economy, rather than better.For businesses unable to pay for commercial property loans, there are not many options to consider when trying to keep afloat in the sea of uncertainty. Many find themselves at the mercy of their particular lender and that group’s investors; it is true that there are definitely better ways to deal with such problems. Obtaining a commercial property loss mitigation specialist is going to be a key factor and may be the only way to avoid the Special Servicer’s chopping block until there is more regulation on commercial restructuring!
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Working Capital Loans and Commercial Finance Funding
As reported in The Working Capital Journal, traditional working capital loans are currently available from a shrinking number of commercial banks. Most of these business lenders are not among the relatively small group of larger banks which have received bailout funds. Small business owners should familiarize themselves about which commercial lenders are still actively providing this kind of business finance funding.In most cases the active commercial lenders for this specialized form of commercial funding are limiting working capital loans to businesses which are current in their debt payments and are showing a net profit (based on recent financial statements). If these two conditions are met, new commercial loans can frequently be obtained to refinance lines of credit and term loans which have been cancelled or recalled by many lenders. For businesses not qualified for commercial financing using these two requirements, there are alternative funding sources such as business cash advance programs.Many small business owners also rely on personal lines of credit to finance some of their business operations. There have been many reports of widespread cancellations and reductions of these lending programs as well, especially those involving lenders which have received a multi-billion dollar cash infusion from U.S. taxpayer money that was intended to facilitate the lending of money to businesses and consumers.Personal and business lines of credit have been eliminated in many cases by lenders due to a reduced ability to pay by borrowers and deteriorating business conditions. As reported in The Working Capital Journal, a high percentage of borrowers, however, had an excellent payment history for many recent credit line reductions or cancellations.Meanwhile, there are banks willing to make working capital loans. The most notable examples are (for the most part, anyway) not banks which have received bailout funds. In general, these commercial lenders have been willing to provide working capital financing, either in the form of new business financing or refinancing lines of credit and term loans which have been recalled or cancelled by other lenders.Because it basically indicates that bailout funds have been given (so far) to lenders who primarily have a history of making bad loans (virtually all lenders receiving bailout funds to date), the lending activities described above are a serious concern to many observers. At this point, little attention has been given to lenders with a healthy balance sheet in federal attempts to get more funds into the hands of consumers and businesses.Based on recent commercial lending activity, there are several notable conclusions.(1) Businesses need to increasingly prepare for life without relying on a traditional bank line of credit and instead consider other viable sources of commercial financing such as business cash advances (which provide working capital based upon future credit card processing activity).(2) The recent unwillingness by most lenders receiving bailout funds to report in any meaningful way how and where these funds have been used would certainly seem to be a loud and clear signal that these particular lenders are probably in worse shape than they are reporting to anyone.(3) Commercial lenders that have a history of making good loans rather than bad loans should be the focus of further government funding programs.(4) Business owners should be willing to seek out commercial finance funding sources beyond their previous banking relationships when they encounter difficulties obtaining working capital loans and commercial loans from normally dependable lenders.