LOS ANGELES—The National List of Attorneys has launched a new commercial real estate platform to help landlords recoup losses from tenants who have broken their lease contracts. The platform will collect leaseholder debts for all property types across the country with no upfront costs. To find out about the new platform, the attorneys who are collecting these losses and what CRE market trends are behind the launch, we sat down with the firm's Los Angeles-based SVP of business strategy Scott Yahraus for an exclusive interview. Here is what he tells us:

GlobeSt.com: Tell me about the National List of Attorney's new commercial real estate platform.

Scott Yahraus: Small and large owners have experienced a tenant that has not fulfilled their lease obligations and moved out on them prior to their lease term ending. The National List has been connecting collection lawyers and law firms with those seeking to collect debt since 1900. We process an average of 2,700 claims a day, 365 days a year. Recently we have expanded our business to include commercial real estate, bringing this valuable service to owner/operators and asset managers. I recently joined to the National List of Attorney's full-time staff. I have spent 12 years in commercial real estate, and have been involved in brokerage, commercial development, and the syndications of low-income housing tax credits (LIHTC). With this added expertise in the CRE field, the NL saw great opportunity to help owner/operators and asset managers recover the money that belongs to them.

GlobeSt.com: What is happening in the CRE market that inspired you to pursue these losses?

In my experience, every landlord has experienced a tenant or resident who has vacated a property without fulfilling his or her lease obligations, which leaves the landlord in a bind. Most owner/operators simply write off the rent as bad debt or they might obtain a judgment for the unpaid rent, but have no means of collecting on the judgment. Many individuals are unaware that there is a whole field of law surrounding credit and collections that is available to them. In my experience real estate folks will use their transactional attorneys to collect unpaid rent for them, but this never works out well as they are real estate attorneys and not collection attorneys. There is really no business offering this service to business professionals in the commercial real estate space. We are fulfilling that demand.  

GlobeSt.com: Tell me about the legal professionals who collect the losses, and how do they accomplish the collection?

Yahraus: The NL has a very strict and lengthy due diligence process regarding who can become a member of the National List of Attorneys. Our members are experts in the practice of collection law. Because an attorney is involved who knows the ropes of the state they are collecting in, the debtor has a high likelihood of paying the creditor. The attorneys that are members of the National List have all the legal tools in their arsenal to collect a debt for a CRE owner/operator or asset manager. 

GlobeSt.com: What is the cost of the program, and how does it benefit landlords?

Yahraus: There is no cost to using the National List of Attorneys to connect with an attorney. And the attorneys are members of the National List work on a contingency fee basis for collection matters. Unlike transactional attorneys that owner/operators or asset managers are used to working with, there typically is no fee unless there is success in collection.  And since these attorneys are creditor's rights experts, many also are well versed in business bankruptcy and reorganization, including the unique issues relating to commercial real estate.

GlobeSt.com: What are your goals with this new program, and what can we expect from the company in the future?

Yahraus: The National List plans to enhance online capabilities for our customers.   Currently, a real estate professional who has a matter he needs to collect on can place that claim online at NationalList.com. However, our roadmap includes making the online placement and reporting even more robust.  We plan to soon unveil a full key events interface that will make it very simple for the creditor to know exactly where his claim/judgment stands at any point in time.