December 2012
Preparing for Upcoming Changes to ASTM E1527 · SBA Appraisal Requirements · Is Vapor in Your Due Diligence Policy? · What Every Risk Manager Needs to Know About the EPA Vapor Intrusion Guidance · Meet Team Member Matt DeVoe · And more!
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November 2012
Brush Up on Your SBA Deals! · RMA Members Get a Look at the New EDR Lender Portal · Meet Team Member Guy Tassinari! · Big Data Brings Big Challenges· And more!
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October 2012
Are Agency File Reviews Part of Your Due Diligence? · Simplifying Collateral Due Diligence and Compliance · Meet Team Member Mike Benz · SBA Program Looks at Increased Funding in ’13 · And more!
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August 2012
Loan Maturities Drive Refinancing Activity · Risk Aversion Reflects Uncertain Market · The EDR City Directory Super Library is Born! · Commercial/Multi-Family Originations Up 25% in 2ndQ 2012 · Quarterly Market Update: Tracking the Drivers of Recovery
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April 2012
Dianne Crocker's "Top 10 Checklist for Your Environmental Policy" • EDR's new customer satisfaction initiative • Meet a team member - Pat Kennedy • EDR at NAGGL and EBA • Earth day and the EPA, and more!
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February 2012
Three of Dianne Crocker's "Top 10 Trends in Commercial Real Estate Lending and Environmental Due Diligence" revealed • A report from EDR's visit to the January EBA conference in Santa Fe • Changes to Conn. brownfields legislation—will they lead to an uptick in CRE lending? • Engaging new commonground content • Events, courses and a whole lot more!
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December 2011
The experts tell you how to overcome environmental due diligence challenges (Part 2 of 2) • commonground University's exclusive ASTM E2600 Vapor Encroachment Online Course • Why the University of Maryland’s Environmental Law Program has come under fire (again) • And much, much more!
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November 2011
The experts tell you how to overcome environmental due diligence challenges (Part 1 of 2) • What environmental professionals want you to know • Why asthmatics might not want to move to New Delhi • And much, much more!
SEPTEMBER 2011
What is a Phase I? When do you need one? Where can you go to find more information? Explore these and other pressing questions in this month’s edition of the EDR Lender Insider.
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AUGUST 2011
Read about Phase 1 growth in the US, a new Chain Of Title (COT) requirement and help commonground raise money for the less fortunate in the classroom.
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JULY 2011
Lending under the U.S. SBA's 7(a) and CDC programs is getting the attention of private lenders, which are adding loan officers to handle additional volume and allocating more resources to SBA-guaranteed lending as a key strategic focus this year.
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MARCH 2011
Although nearly six months have passed since the U.S. Small Business Administration adopted SOP 50 10 5(C), its updated policy for 7(a) and certified development company (CDC) loan programs, there is still a great deal of uncertainty about the level of environmental investigation the agency requires for its various loans. The confusion is hardly surprising given that two-thirds of lenders who have adopted the SBA’s SOP do not train their staff on the ins and outs of the policy. (Source: EDR’s
Benchmarking Survey of Financial Institutions.) If you’re one of them, here’s what you need to know about the agency’s newest environmental due diligence tool, the “Records Search with Risk Assessment.”
FEBRUARY 2011
In what has become yet another example of why sites used for dry cleaning operations warrant special attention in environmental due diligence investigation, contamination is being blamed for delaying plans to redevelop an Illinois dry cleaner property.
NOVEMBER 2010
On November 15, the U.S. Small Business Administration's revised liquidation policy 50 51 3 took effect. Among other things, the document outlines the environmental investigation requirements for all loans in “liquidation status.”
SEPTEMBER 2010
On September 8, the U.S. Small Business Administration released a new version of its SOP 50 10 5, the agency's requirements for lenders and Certified Development Companies (CDCs) to participate in SBA lending programs. The new policy, SOP 50 10 5(C), replaces its predecessor, SOP 50 10 5(B), and takes effect October 1, 2010.
AUGUST 2010
Nearly 250 environmental due diligence professionals weighed in on EDR's 2Q10 State of the Market Survey in July. Among the findings was a noticeable shift in consultants' perceptions of lenders' underwriting standards in the second quarter of 2010.
JULY 2010
An Illinois-based lender filed an environmental lawsuit after foreclosing on a seemingly benign property that was later found to be contaminated. In 2009, the bank foreclosed on a two-family home. Since then, the bank discovered that a nearby dry cleaner had allegedly contaminated the property, along with the surrounding area. As a result, the bank is now suing the dry cleaner, its owner and its lender.
JUNE 2010
The number of institutions on the FDIC's list of "problem banks" now stands at 775, up from 702 at the end of 2009. This is the highest level since June 30, 1993, when the number of "problem" institutions totaled 793. To date in 2010, the FDIC has closed 83 banks, more than half of the 140 total closed in 2009.
MAY 2010
Amid today's shaky business climate and declining property values, mortgage lenders are finding it more important than ever to protect their bottom line. A disciplined environmental due diligence process helps them do that. When it comes to financing commercial real estate, environmental contamination is a risk that can impair -- or even kill -- a deal.
APRIL 2010
As the volume of foreclosures rises, thousands of contaminated sites will be eyed by investors as potentially good deals. According to Real Capital Analytics, there are now more than 8,000 commercial properties nationwide that have been foreclosed on or whose owners have defaulted on their loans.
MARCH 2010
In its mid-February audit of 16 bank failures, the FDIC identified commercial real estate lending as the primary cause of the loss in more than half of the cases. The failed banks accounted for total assets of $7.62 billion at the time they were shut down and were based in various states across the U.S.
FEBRUARY 2010
Banks have begun making loans to commercial real estate developers and owners, even as they face as much as $150 billion in losses on past commercial real estate loans.
JANUARY 2010
President Obama signed the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) appropriations bill in late December, which included a temporary extension of stimulus funding for the U.S. Small Business Administration's two largest loan programs.
DECEMBER 2009
In the current economy, lenders are receiving more calls than ever before from environmental consultants seeking to be added to their approved lists. Before adding an environmental professional to your institution's pre-approved consultant list, here is a top ten list of tips to help you distinguish between a high-quality environmental due diligence firm and a low-quality one.
NOVEMBER 2009
The pressure of federal regulators, coupled with the uncertain business environment, is translating into an extremely low risk tolerance on the part of commercial real estate lenders. Nearly half of environmental consultants conducting due diligence for commercial real estate lenders reported that their lender clients' standards for underwriting collateral risk and environmental business risk have become more stringent in the past year, according to the results of EDR's 2009 Environmental Due Diligence Best Practices Survey.
SEPTEMBER 2009
Regulators are about to ramp up the intensity of scrutiny on banks' real estate risk exposure. The Federal Reserve announced in mid-September that it is casting a wider net and will be examining the exposure to losses of approximately 800 regional and community banks across the country.