Multifamily and manufactured housing loans destined for governmentsupported entities (GSEs) such as Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and HUD, along with tax-credit financing through state agencies, require not only in-depth real estate and finance knowledge, but experience handling the delivery criteria for those entities and structural issues for tax credit financing.
Dickinson Wright’s real estate finance attorneys have the proprietary document automation and transaction management systems in place to close routine deals efficiently and cost-effectively. We also know how to roll up our sleeves to handle the more challenging, complex transactions. Our experience representing a variety of lenders – from local banks holding loans for a portfolio to the largest commercial mortgage-backed securitization lenders – allows us to consistently deliver excellent service, no matter the client’s need.
Our Team
Our lawyers actively participate in a variety of real estate and finance organizations, including Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), Commercial Real Estate Finance Council, Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization (MISMO), the American College of Mortgage Attorneys (ACMA), and the American College of Real Estate Lawyers. Additionally, many of our individual team members have been recognized by leading law publications such as Chambers USA®, The Best Lawyers in America®, Super Lawyers®, and Law360.
Our Services
Our nationally recognized and highly sought-after real estate finance team assists both lenders and borrowers with all aspects of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loan transactions. Our team has closed thousands of multifamily and manufactured housing mortgage loans in the $1–10 million range. Additionally, we have developed automation and process innovations that allow us to be efficient and cost-effective yet fully attentive to the individual needs of small-balance lenders and borrowers. As lender and borrower’s closing counsel, we have successfully adopted a variety of creative approaches for getting deals done. Let us do the same for you!
• Assisting with Fannie Mae application and qualification
• Designing loan program requirements and processes
• Providing national counsel for start-ups of Fannie Mae small loan programs
• Providing outsourcing of select loan closing
• Providing traditional legal services
• Negotiating loan application, loan commitment, and loan document provisions, inclusive of foreign citizens
• Negotiating complex transfer provisions for highly structure joint ventures
Representative Matters
–Fannie Mae Small Loan Program. Assisted lenders with Fannie Mae application and qualification process; interacted with lender clients to design loan program requirements and processes; provided “outsourcing” of selected loan closing functions to lender in addition to traditional legal services; acted as lender’s closing counsel for transactions across the country.
–Small Balance Loans. Our closing team has closed thousands of multifamily and manufactured housing mortgage loans in the $1–10 million range. As part of that niche, we have developed document automation and process innovations that allow us to be extremely efficient and cost-effective, yet fully attentive, to the special needs of small-balance borrowers and lenders.
–Foreign Guarantors. As lender’s closing counsel, we negotiated the loan application, loan commitment, and loan document provisions related to the inclusion of a foreign citizen as a non-recourse carveout guarantor in a $20 million GSE transaction.
–Complex Transfer Provisions. As lender’s closing counsel, we have negotiated special transfer provisions for a highly structured joint venture between a prominent institutional investor and its developer partner. Those loan document provisions are the blueprint for future transactions. As borrower’s counsel, we negotiated unique estate planning transfer provisions to address the special needs of a borrower owned by several generations of a family.
–Manufactured Housing. As one of the most experienced lender’s counsel closing teams in the country with this property type, we have closed hundreds of manufactured housing community transactions for a variety of lenders (not limited to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loan programs). We also have extensively represented manufactured housing community borrowers.
–Tenancies in CommonT. We have extensive experience documenting tenancy-in-common transactions arising out of 1031 exchange transactions. A recent transaction involved six entities, trust, and individual constituents, located in several states.
–Ground Lease Manufactured Housing Community. Our team has negotiated and documented amendments to the ground lease and related documentation to permit the closing of complex manufactured housing transactions.
–HUD and Tax Credit Financings. Represented numerous borrows in Arizona, Michigan, and elsewhere in connection with HUD-supported loans and financings approved by state agencies, as well as federal and state tax credit.
