Borrowers should feel confident making well-documented, relatively reasonable requests, experts said on a Friday webinar for ICSC members titled Communicating with Your Servicer in the Time of COVID-19.

Misinformation about the modifications possible with commercial mortgage-backed securities abounds, and borrowers don’t need to consult with third parties to get relief, said Alan Kronovet, executive vice president and head of commercial mortgage servicing at Wells Fargo Commercial Mortgage Servicing. “Each transaction stands on its own. There’s not going to be a blanket approach to forbearance or relief.”

Borrowers should reach out directly to their servicers through the established channels, recommended Kathleen Olin, managing director of industry initiatives for the CRE Finance Council. “Don’t spend time talking to other people. Go directly to the servicer you’ve already established communications with.”

In those conversations, borrowers should highlight their companies’ operational abilities and their connections to decision-makers at national and local tenants. Borrowers also should provide detailed and realistic analysis of each‘ property’s situation and its short-, medium- and long-term needs, Kronovet said.

Even as demand surges, servicers are approaching borrowers with more flexibility and willingness to modify loans than they’ve offered during past economic downturns, Kronovet said. “This is a different type of problem than we had in 2008; a government order to shut down business is different.”

The current conversations between borrowers and lenders are more about temporary solutions versus long-term fixes because the pandemic situation remains fluid, Olin said. “‘Empathetic,’ ‘compassionate,’ ‘thoughtful,’ ‘careful’ and ‘meaningful’ are some of the words we’re hearing borrowers and lenders use to describe their interactions.”

The webinar is available here (Chrome works best).

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