Experts to Borrowers: 'Help Lenders Help You'

LOS ANGELES-”If a borrower can’t cover operating costs in the near future, instead of defaulting, a borrower needs to be honest with a lender before it is too late.” So said panelists at the Meet the Money, Debt and Equity Financing for Hotels conference held Wednesday at the Sheraton Gateway Los Angeles Hotel.

Patrick O’Neal, of Midland Loan Services Inc. and a panelist in a session titled “The Note is Coming Due: Strategies and Approaches for Value Enhancement… and Other Opportunities” says it is important to “state what your case is, (if you are a borrower) let the lender know, put it in writing, and never lie… Nobody wants your property…that is not our goal.”

The morning session was moderated by Jim Butler, chairman of the global hospitality group at Jeffer, Mangers, Butler & Marmaro LLP, which put on the event. “The current economic crisis is creating unprecedented challenges and opportunities for hoteliers, resulting in the greatest repositioning of wealth since the 1930s,” said conference host Butler.