| |
Lender Services
We
are not your typical stuffed-shirt bank lawyers.
 Among
law firms, there is a qualitative difference
in the way we assist clients who are in the business of making and administering
loans. Please read our web pages to see what we mean. If there is any
chance that we can assist you, please call us.
Our
Lender Services Team. We have an extraordinary team of lawyers
and paralegals (meet the team)
who, every day, help lenders document and close loans, modify terms,
solve problems, and develop and fine-tune their documents and procedures
in order to work smarter. We work for all kinds of lenders
- federal and state regulated banks, savings and loans, lending subsidiaries
of big corporations, and private investment funds.
The
Perfect Loan Document Set. We specialize in loan
document design. We have been hired by a number of lenders to do
a bottoms-up analysis and overhaul (see case
study) of their standard form loan documents. We have made their
documents easier to read and understand, simpler to prepare and administer,
more borrower-friendly, and more manageable to negotiate. For others,
only some fine-tuning was necessary to make them run hotter and faster
(see case study).
Because of our breadth of experience, we also have a huge resource of
forms for loan transactions that are unusual or challenging.
First One Loan, Then Another. For some of our lender
clients, we document, negotiate (when necessary), and help them close
every loan they make. For others, we merely analyze, negotiate, and
draft the tricky stuff, or operate under a retainer or subscription
arrangement for a fairly predictable level of services each month. Our
clients operate in all of the western
states, as well as a few others, so we design loan documents that
will comply with each state's laws, relying on our Meritas
affiliates in other states when we need local expertise. And we
document and close all kinds
of loans - residential or commercial construction loans, borrowing
base credit lines, commercial and retail permanent loans, commercial
credit lines, and special FNMA and Freddie Mac programs.
There
Are Regulations, You Know. We also offer a variety of compliance
services to lenders. You may need help figuring out licensing
requirements in the various states. We also regularly advise clients
on a variety of federal and state regulations
governing real estate financing and other forms of lending.
Spread
the Risk, Share the Reward. Some of our lender clients
offer participation to other investors in virtually every loan they
make. We have prepared hundreds of loan
participation agreements for a variety of lenders and under many
different arrangements including "club loan" or syndicated
formats. There is more to loan participation than is commonly realized.
Also, some of our non-regulated lender clients operate as private
investment funds, with outside investment from financial institutions,
pension plans, overseas companies, or private investors. Many of these
funds involve multiple tiers of ownership. We have helped form over
$200 million of investment funds in the past three years for the purpose
of making loans, and have documented virtually every loan in which those
funds were placed.
Those Inevitable Bumps in the Road. No matter how
good the underwriting, every lender must deal with problem loans from
time to time. Sometimes you need to strategize a deliberate and careful
course to get the project completed and sold, to rehabilitate an under-performing
asset, to recover your investment from your collateral, or to pursue
a guarantor. We have been through enough workouts
to give you good advice when you are debating among alternatives, attempting
to document a forbearance
or restructuring, considering
a possible receivership, headed for foreclosure
and collection, or working through a bankruptcy.
We initially got into this business by providing foreclosure and bankruptcy
services, and our team of lawyers and paralegals have performed thousands
of foreclosures and worked through hundreds of bankruptcies.
It's
all about relationships.
Beyond our knowledge and experience in lending, we have witnessed firsthand
the trend towards full-service lending, and we know the importance of
the relationship between
you and your borrowers. Your borrowers are your customers - they need
to be satisfied both with the terms that you offer and with the treatment
they receive from you and your agents.
We operate as an extension of your organization. We realize that we
can help support and develop the relationship
between you and your borrower. It is pure craftsmanship to document
loans that protect you as lender with an intelligent array of rights
and remedies, but are still concise, easy to review and negotiate, and
respectful of the borrower's legitimate concerns. When faced with a
borrower who wants to re-write those documents, it is an art form to
respond to the borrower and draw the line in a way that will preserve
and protect your rights, but still make the borrower feel that its concerns
have been adequately addressed. There is nothing more satisfying to
us than hearing from our lender clients that their borrowers have called
our loan documents "the best they have worked with," or that closing
loans with us was "as easy and efficient as it could be." And we
have received those kinds of compliments.
Who
says there is no such thing as a free lunch?
Sometimes issues that need to be addressed up front are overlooked
in underwriting and documentation. Sometimes the paper trail leading
into a default situation is not good. Sometimes manageable situations
become big problems because they weren't dealt with appropriately at
the right time.
We want to help you work smarter and avoid these problems. We also
know that lawyers are expensive and that you would like to be able to
address as many issues as you can on your own, without running to your
lawyers for every little thing. Therefore, in appreciation of your business,
we offer our regular lender clients no-charge training in the form of
our WorkSmart Seminars™.
This free training is designed to give your employees more knowledge,
more experience, and help them be more self-reliant about the legal
environment in which you operate. E-mail Mike
Schumacher or call him at 206-623-1745 for more information about
our WorkSmart Seminars™ or the topics that we could cover.
So
there really is a difference.
We believe we are different,
and a number of our clients have told us so. We believe you will be
pleased if you give us a chance to work with you. Or perhaps we could
at least meet to discuss how we might help you improve your standard
form documents, assist in loan documentation and closings, provide assistance
on particular modifications or restructurings, provide guidance in working
through your problem loans, or help your employees work smarter. Please
e-mail Mike Schumacher or Gary
Fallon or call them at 206-623-1745.
|
|
