Real Estate Lending

Real Estate Lending Attorneys

If you are responsible for mortgage lending transactions at your bank or credit union, contact a real estate lawyer at Mitchell Pollack & Associates for the legal support necessary to protect your position in any loan secured by real property. We handle mortgage loans, refinancings, and complex sales of business assets that include real estate.

Our attorneys can not only represent your financial institution at the closing of the loan, but we can work with you at every step of the transaction to make sure that your position is documented and protected. We advise you on how to protect your interests in making that loan, or advise you on the form the loan needs to take. In addressing this question, we consider such factors as the following:

• Chain of title
• Description of the property
• Fixtures
• Authorization of the borrower to convey a mortgage interest
• Priority problems with previous lenders, lienholders, and tax authorities
• Environmental risk due to brownfields problems, asbestos, underground fuel tanks, or other contaminants
• Regulatory risk concerning zoning, nonconforming uses, building code violations, or other state or local regulations

In complex commercial loans secured by both real estate, personal property, and accounts receivable, we can distinguish between the formal requirements of perfecting your collateral interest in either, and help avoid mistakes of mischaracterization of the collateral as one or the other. Where appropriate, we can also provide appropriate documentation for personal guaranties, stock pledges, lease assignments, subordination agreements, and satisfaction of judgments or liens to keep your lender's risk at an absolute minimum.

The acid test of commercial real estate lending documentation comes when the borrower defaults or files for bankruptcy. Our ability to articulate and draft the agreements necessary to protect your collateral position and deficiency rights will stand up both in foreclosure proceedings and in bankruptcy court.

Especially for smaller financial institutions, it's easy to make a mistake in documenting your mortgage rights in any real estate lending transaction. To learn more about how we can help improve the performance and enforceability of your mortgage lending portfolio, contact a real estate or banking attorney at Mitchell Pollack & Associates in Tarrytown, New York, or Mahwah, New Jersey.