Commercial Foreclosure Refresher: Some Basics

A prospective client, who holds a promissory note, which requires an upcoming balloon payment, and a mortgage on commercial real estate securing the note, had these questions for us:

1.    Could the client (effectively, a lender) pursue a default the day after the balloon payment was due?

2.    What did #1 require?

3.    How long would the loan collateral be tied up?

Since I've written about each of these topics in the past, I thought the prospective client's questions made for a nice, short blog post.  Here are the quick answers (as I prepare to head on a fall break vacation with the family):

1.    Depending upon the language in the note, usually yes.  The default and enforcement provisions in the note control.  But, some lenders provide a notice and cure letter as a courtesy, or to initiate settlement discussions.  For more, see Notices of Default, Who Should Send the Letter.   Moreover, while residential/consumer foreclosures require pre-suit notice in Indiana, commercial cases do not:  Indiana's Pre-Suit Notice And Settlement Conference Statute Not Intended For Commercial Foreclosures.  

2.    The Commercial Lender's 8-Item Care Package For Its Foreclosure Attorney

3.    Indiana Foreclosure Process And Timing - The Basics