Overview
Carlton Fields provides strategies and solutions throughout all phases of problem loan resolution, including workouts, litigation, and bankruptcy proceedings. Our representation begins with a thorough review of the debt relationship, including an analysis of credit and litigation risk, from which we develop a timely, cost-effective strategy. We represent a wide variety of creditors, including banks, insurance companies, property management firms, real estate investment trusts, asset-based lenders, commercial finance companies, indenture trustees, bondholders, receivers, and creditors' committees, and our experience, developed throughout several real estate cycles, spans real estate financing, litigation, and bankruptcy.
Experience
Represented the $145 million secured creditor in a bankruptcy proceeding in Topeka, Kansas, that resulted in a liquidation and Section 363 sale of 40 hotels across the country, in which the client credit bid $91 million and took back the collateral. In re Lodging Enterprises.
Represented one of the largest prepetition secured lenders among a syndicate of 16 secured lenders in the Chapter 11 restructuring of a Gulf Coast marine transportation and dredging enterprise, advising on DIP financing, cash collateral, vessel-collateral issues, valuation disputes, credit-bid rights, bankruptcy litigation, and sale-process strategy. In re Crosby Marine Transportation, LLC, Crosby Tugs, LLC, Crosby Dredging, LLC, and Bertucci Contracting Co., No. 26-10678 (Bankr. E.D. La.).
Represented the largest secured creditor in the Chapter 11 cases of a multistate behavioral health care provider comprising 28 affiliated debtors, focusing on DIP financing, Section 363 asset sales and auction processes, lien disputes, creditor recoveries, and contested bankruptcy litigation, including appellate proceedings involving a merchant cash advance lender. In re Praesum Healthcare Services, LLC, No. 9:25-bk-19335 (Bankr. S.D. Fla.).
Large-scale commercial foreclosures; commercial loan workouts, including loan and mortgage modifications, deed-in-lieu agreements, cross-default and cross-collateralization agreements, loan bifurcation agreements, and cash-flow mortgages; and CMBS loans and related CMBS loan servicing.
National workout counsel for the holder of a $30 billion portfolio of mortgage loans secured by multifamily properties throughout the country and directly responsible for more than 500 problem loans in more than 30 states.
Represented various REMIC trusts and special servicers in more than 50 problem loans involving a principal balance of more than $1.1 billion secured by commercial properties of all types.
Represented a construction lender in the restructuring of 12 loans ranging from $25 million to $125 million for development projects composed of condominium, multifamily, and commercial uses.
Represented a special servicer in connection with foreclosure of a $108 million senior loan secured by a luxury hotel in Miami, including addressing collateral attacks on the proceeding by the mezzanine lender.
Lead trial counsel in a commercial foreclosure action filed in Florida state court in St. Petersburg, Florida, involving the Safety Harbor Resort and Spa in Safety Harbor, Florida, on behalf of a national bank client. After the filing of the state court action, the borrower filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding and the bank became the largest secured creditor in the case. The Chapter 11 proceeding was heavily litigated, with numerous depositions and hearings, including a valuation proceeding. Shortly before confirmation, the bank sold its loan to a subsidiary of a global European bank. We continued as counsel to the secured creditor and proceeded to a four- to five-day plan confirmation trial. After this trial and numerous follow-up hearings, the court confirmed a plan of reorganization that included most of the protections requested by the lender, paid its secured claim in full, and partially paid its unsecured claim. The plan also contained protections to allow the lender to pursue the guarantors at the completion of the plan.
Lead trial counsel in a commercial foreclosure action filed in Florida state court in Miami-Dade County involving a condominium development in Coral Gables, which, after extensive written and deposition discovery, the appointment of a receiver, and a special set summary judgment hearing, resulted in entry of a foreclosure judgment for the client of more than $38.1 million. On the eve of a scheduled foreclosure sale, the borrower filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding and the client became the largest secured creditor in the case. The Chapter 11 proceeding was heavily litigated, with numerous depositions and hearings, and then a three-day plan confirmation trial. After this trial and numerous follow-up hearings, the court confirmed a plan of reorganization that included all of the protections requested by the client and paid the client 100 percent on its secured claim. The plan also allowed the client to retain its lien on the property until paid in full, and to pursue the guarantors of the underlying debt.
Lead trial counsel for a commercial bank in a contested commercial foreclosure action involving undeveloped property with entitlements against the borrower, numerous junior lienors, and various guarantors. The bank had acquired the loan from the FDIC when it acquired numerous assets of the failed bank that originally made the loan. After the case was filed in state court, several defendants brought in additional parties, and the case was removed to federal court. After extended hearings and significant discovery, the court entered a final judgment of foreclosure of more than $32.9 million, including more than $800,000 in attorneys' fees and costs, and the client took back the property at a foreclosure sale held by a court-appointed special master. During the foreclosure action, one of the third-party defendants also brought a third-party claim against the bank asserting contractual and quasi-contractual claims arising from the conduct of Orion Bank before it failed and before the loan went into default. After additional discovery and extensive motion practice, the court held a two-day bench trial and entered a complete defense verdict for the bank on the third-party claims.
