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IN THE SPOTLIGHT
 | Janet M. Dery, Esq. |
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Janet is a Partner in the firm's Fort Washington office. Her practice's primary focus is on commercial lending, business law, and real estate. Representing bank and non-bank lenders in hundreds of commercial lending transactions nationwide, she has extensive experience as closing counsel for various financial transactions, many of which involve government assisted programs and multi-jurisdictional issues and collateral. In such role, she uses her knowledge of finance and a proactive approach to assist the lenders with eligibility determinations, due diligence collection, preparation and negotiation of loan documents, and closing of the loan transactions.
Janet is an approved closing attorney for certified development companies which facilitate U.S. Small Business Administration loan programs. In such representation, she assists borrowers and third party lenders in understanding all the complexities in the requirements and funding process under the SBA 504 loan program. She also works closely with local SBA District Counsel to insure the eligibility of the loan submissions for inclusion in the applicable monthly debenture fundings.
ADMISSIONS:
* Pennsylvania
* New Jersey
* Maryland
To read more about Janet, click here.
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FEATURED ARTICLE
Best Practices: Leasehold Mortgage vs. Collateral Assignment of Lease
By: Joseph A. Ernst, Esquire
 | Joseph A. Ernst, Esquire |
If loan proceeds are to be used to finance existing or new improvements on a leased interest in land, the
SOP 50 10 5(F) contains rather specific requirements as to the clauses that need to appear in the borrower's ground lease. In most instances, a tenant/borrower under a long-term ground lease that intends to secure financing for construction or major renovations to the leased premises will be cognizant that its long-term ground lease has to be financeable, and that the ground lease must therefore contain certain provisions to protect the interests of any leasehold mortgagee. In a ground lease situation, where the tenant/borrower is developing the land with significant improvements (such as ground-up construction of a new building), its landlord should also understand from the start (i) that an encumbrance or lien on tenant's/borrower's interest in the ground lease will be conveyed to a lender as collateral for a loan to the tenant/borrower and (ii) that a leasehold mortgage or deed of trust will be required to allow the tenant/borrower to develop the improvements to the leased premises without spending all of its available assets. If the parties to a ground lease are aware that tenant/borrower intends to secure financing for construction or major renovations, commercial ground leases will typically include a provision that specifically allows the tenant/borrower to encumber all or any portion of its interest in the lease and the leasehold estate by mortgage, deed of trust or other security instrument upon obtaining the prior written consent of the landlord. Consequently, in the context of a tenant/borrower developed property under a ground lease, it is appropriate and much more likely that a lender can obtain a ground lease that meets the requirements of the SOP 50 10 5(F) and secure the loan with a leasehold mortgage.
In direct contrast to the ground lease situation, there are many instances where loan proceeds are to be used to finance existing or new improvements on a leased interest in a commercial property that is already improved (or will be improved) with a building or buildings that have been (or will be) constructed by a landlord with the intent of leasing out the building or buildings to one or more commercial tenants. In this situation, where the financing is typically for less significant improvements that fall with in a narrower scope of tenant's/borrower's fit out work for its unique use of the leased premises, it most likely not appropriate or possible for a leasehold mortgage to be placed on commercial property that has been already been (or will be) developed by a landlord. In the context of a landlord developed property, most likely neither tenant/borrower, nor its landlord will have anticipated that tenant's leasehold interest will be encumbered with a leasehold mortgage and, consequently, a lease for a landlord developed property will not likely contain any provisions that protect the interests of a leasehold mortgagee. In fact, more likely than not, tenant/borrower in this context will be prohibited from encumbering its leasehold interest with any lien or any other encumbrance. To go back after the fact and try to get such protections in the lease for the benefit of a leasehold mortgagee can be difficulty, if not impossible, to obtain. The lender will have higher likelihood of success if, in the connect of a landlord developed property, it obtains a collateral assignment of the tenant's/borrower's lease and a waiver of landlord's statutory lien on tenant's trade fixtures, furnishings and equipment. Landlord's waiver will allow the lender to enter the leased premises in the event of a tenant/borrower default under its loan in order to repossess tenant's trade fixtures, furnishings and equipment. When coupled with a collateral assignment of lease, the lender will also have the right to occupy the leased premises and to subsequently assign tenant's/borrower's leasehold interest to a new tenant.
For more information regarding leasehold mortgages, please contact Joe at jernst@starfieldsmith.com or at 215.542.7070.
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EVENTS & SEMINARS 
WEBExpress: Avoid Closing and Documentation Pitfalls Dates: February 5, 2014 Location: Webinar For more information about this event and/or to register, click here.
CTAGGL Luncheon Presented By: Central Texas Association of Government Guaranteed Lenders Dates: February 5 - 6, 2014 Location: San Antonio, Texas & Austin, Texas Stay tuned for more information. 2014 Southeastern Small Business Lenders Conference Dates: February 9 - 11, 2014 For more information about this event and/or to register, click here.
Date: March 12 - 14, 2014
For more information about this event and/or to register, click here.
Date: May 6 - 8, 2014
For more information about this event and/or to register, click here.
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Bob Cota / President / PCFS 2000
It is a pleasure working with a law firm that can provide us with legal advice that also addresses the business aspects of the issues that we deal with. Your counsel, combined with your unique knowledge of the SBA industry, has been a great help to us.
We look forward to a long relationship with your firm.
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