Kenneth Fields was quoted in Andrew McIntyre’s Law360 article looking at hard-hit markets, including Detroit and Cleveland, that are having difficulty refinancing commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) loans as the cities’ property values have not rebounded.

As a result, commercial property owners including office, retail, hotel and multifamily properties, are getting creative in their efforts to refinance CMBS debt and are looking at nonbank lenders or using multiple lenders.

According to the article, owners in Detroit and Cleveland who are looking at refinancing through traditional bank lenders are finding that loan-to-value ratios are even more conservative than they are in other areas of the country where you can find 65 or 70 percent LTV. Lawyers say this makes it extremely challenging for borrowers to get the full amount needed to refinance.

Fields, who recently worked on a deal with a well-positioned Cleveland-area shopping center property, says that his client was able to find an insurance company to take all of its CMBS debt “on far more favorable terms.”

The article notes that although some borrowers can get nonbanks like insurance companies to take their CMBS debt, many borrowers aren’t even able to refinance the full portion of their CMBS loan with a single lender and have to take a piecemeal approach.