Honigman negotiates first loan in the country under HUD's new rules

A team of attorneys from Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP recently finalized the country's first multifamily housing sale under the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) revised loan procedures, which took effect on September 1, 2011. The Honigman team included lead Partner Gregory J. DeMars, Co-Chair of the firm's Affordable Housing Practice Group, and Partner A'Jené M. Maxwell. Honigman represented the lender, Arbor Commercial Mortgage, LLC, insured by HUD in the Section 223(f), Multifamily Accelerated Processing (MAP) loan of $18 million. The borrower was Cherrywood Apartments, LLC in Lansing, Michigan. "Under the new HUD rules, the lender has substantially more due diligence responsibility, making negotiations between the lender and the buyer more complicated than ever before," said DeMars. "They created new and complicated loan documents, which replaced loan documents used for many years. Honigman has an in-depth understanding of the intricate legal challenges presented in connection with federal and state assisted housing projects in general, and in particular the most recent changes made by HUD." The firm's Affordable Housing Practice Group has extensive experience representing lenders and borrowers in HUD-Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgage insurance programs. Honigman's experience includes FHA insurance rules, transfers of physical assets, audits, quality control plans and other finance-specific requirements. The firm assists clients in acquiring, structuring, developing, financing and managing affordable housing transactions with state and federal agencies. Published: Thu, Nov 17, 2011