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""Lowers & Associates"":http://www.lowersrisk.com/ (L&A), an independent provider of risk management and loss prevention services to the financial services sector, recently announced its new commercial mortgage asset management (CMAM), workout, and loan restructuring services.
[IMAGE]With the new CMAM service offering, Purcellville, Virginia-based L&A said it will provide commercial mortgage asset management and workout solutions to financial institutions nationwide. The service will primarily focus on the ""problem asset,"" including those in bankruptcy and hard-to-liquidate REO assets.
As part of this process, L&A's team of experienced commercial real estate asset managers will work with a bank's in-house staff and counsel to develop viable management, restructuring, and/or disposition plans for each loan or REO Asset. This advisory team will be lead by John Kovarik, a veteran commercial real estate finance executive with 25 years of asset management, restructuring, and advisory experience.
According to L&A, the CMAM service brings a holistic, independent point of view to the management of each loan or REO asset, including the review of existing, third-party reports, internal credit and loan review memorandums, interviews with the institution's responsible personnel, and a review of the property's market, taking into account localized demand for space or units and a site inspection. This data is used by L&A's team to develop an asset management plan for each asset, with implementation guided by the lender.
Benefits of the CMAM service to financial institutions are numerous, L&A said. These benefits include cost containment; local, regional, and national market expertise; as well as the ability of the client to engage L&A selectively on ""hard to manage"" assets, including partially completed projects and defaulted construction loans.
As construction loans provide their own specific challenges, the L&A advisory team utilizes experienced construction inspectors and managers, in tandem with its staff of forensic accountants, to provide a full and accurate cost to complete any project. Its construction management and monitoring professionals then ensure that any future funding is underwritten with the asset management goals in mind, documented correctly, and available for funding on time.
For land loans, L&A independently reviews the entitlement status with a view toward marketability of the asset, as well as cost to complete final entitlements and make the site ""shovel ready."" This is all completed within the context of reflecting the position of the asset in the market and development cycles, L&A said.
L&A's staff of experienced and capable asset management professionals averages over 15 years of full-time commercial real estate experience. The group has real-world experience and recognizes that while real estate is a long-term asset, it has short-term profitability, management, and regulatory implications.
With the objective of generating the greatest recovery on a net present value basis, L&A's strives to provide customers with a full complement of asset management and disposition services, cost effectively and in compliance with internal and regulatory guidelines. To do this, the L&A tem works collaboratively with clients to design, develop, and implement solutions that help meet the financial challenges that organizations face in today's complex and changing commercial mortgage marketplace.
