Commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) expert and real estate veteran, Dan Smith, has formed Four Point Alliance, a commercial real estate advisory firm specializing in expert witness testimony in CMBS lawsuits, CMBS loan servicing and asset management. Four Point Alliance is a team of seasoned real estate and banking experts who help CMBS investors, attorneys, and lenders find solutions for issues resulting from today’s volatile market.
“Volume in the CMBS industry has dropped from an annual level of $230 billion to approximately $4.5 billion year to date," said Dan Smith, president and chief executive officer of Four Point Alliance. "Losses are at very high levels and servicers are overwhelmed. Today’s real estate investors want to identify everything they own and get control of their assets.”
For more than 10 years and $3 billion in loans, the Alliance partners have assisted investors through the complex CMBS process. Smith said, “Investors are now facing issues never seen before such as controlling classes, servicer evaluations, and complex collateral decisions. Senior investors in pools are unaware of their rights and options as collateral decisions have been made that in many instances were not in their best interests. Our team knows how CMBS loans and loan participations were structured and we can help investors analyze the information and provide options so that they can make informed decisions.”
Another trend in the CMBS market is that attorneys are facing documentation issues never contemplated when these transactions were structured. Four Point Alliance provides seasoned CMBS professionals who can independently support CMBS cases with expert witness analysis, reports and testimony, as well as representations and warranties breach analysis and guidance on what has or hasn’t been industry standard.
Four Point Alliance’s services include asset management for owners of commercial real estate portfolios through a partnership with Hart Advisors Group LLC. Hart Advisors Group provides due diligence, foreclosure administration and support, court-appointed receiverships, asset or portfolio valuation, budgeting and business plan preparation, lease negotiations, disposition strategies and sales administration.
Prior to forming Four Point Alliance, Smith was the managing director of Capital Markets lending in the United States for RBC Capital Markets. Dan was responsible for originating, which included sourcing, underwriting and closing, commercial and multifamily loans in the United States for inclusion in CMBS pools created and sold in the US. Dan led a team that originated approximately $2.5 billion of commercial real estate loans and securitized approximately $1.8 billion of product. Before working for RBC, Smith was the senior vice president of North America Debt for General Electric (GE) Capital. He was responsible for originating, which included sourcing, underwriting, and closing, as well as asset management for the commercial real estate portfolio in the United States and Canada. Dan oversaw loans GE kept for investment, and also for loans originated and sold in CMBS pools. He also worked with investors, rating agencies and industry participants regarding underwriting standards, policies and procedures of the lending industry.
For more information, visit www.fourpointalliance.com.
