Commercial real estate tsunami

Commercial Loan Workouts: Special Servicers and Lender Playbook

Retelling Chapter 6 (Part 2) of The Commercial Real Estate Tsunami by Tony Wood (foreword by Matthew Anderson, ISBN 978-0-470-63637-4).


Chapter 6 closes with two practical guides for anyone on the lender side of a distressed deal. The first comes from Eric Von Berg on CMBS mechanics. The second is a workout roadmap from real estate attorney Maura O’Connor of Seyfarth Shaw. Together they explain why two borrowers with similar problems can get totally different outcomes depending on who holds the loan and how prepared each side is.

Lenders Prepare for Impact: When the Wave Hits

Retelling Chapter 6 (Part 1) of The Commercial Real Estate Tsunami by Tony Wood (foreword by Matthew Anderson, ISBN 978-0-470-63637-4).


Part Three of the book shifts from diagnosis to survival tactics. Chapter 6 is aimed at lenders, and Tony Wood does not pull punches. He opens with two images: the three monkeys who see, hear, and speak no evil, and the banking phrase “extend and pretend.” Both describe how many institutions handled distressed commercial loans in 2009.

Phase Four: Congress Hears the CRE Alarm Bell

Retelling Chapter 4 (Part 1) of The Commercial Real Estate Tsunami by Tony Wood (foreword by Matthew Anderson, ISBN 978-0-470-63637-4).


Tony Wood opens Chapter 4 with a tsunami metaphor that sticks. The “Run-Up” phase is the wave’s last push inland, when momentum and sudden arrival do the most damage. By 2010, commercial real estate was in that phase. The question was not whether trouble was coming. It was whether anyone in Washington understood how big the wall needed to be.