Commercial Loan Guarantee Program to be Proposed

Representative Walt Minnick of Idaho is expected to introduce a loan guarantee program worth $15 to $25 billion to help support refinancing of underwater commercial loans. The bill would introduce a new board at the Treasury Department to prepare underwriting guidelines for the program.

The proposal comes on the heels of a week when some analysts on the commercial real estate front have revised their gloom and doom predictions of massive commercial defaults because values are beginning to rise of their own accord.

The bill is a long way from passage, and it remains to be seen whether it will be needed in light of the better economic news on the commercial real estate front.