| Real Estate Financing Group Call Monday, November 9, 2009; 12:00 Noon CST Dial-in phone #: 800/504-8071, Passcode: 9885590. MERS UPDATE: WHO "OWNS" MY LOAN?? Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc., commonly referred to as "MERS," is the recorded owner of over half of the nation?s residential mortgages and thousands of commercial mortgages. MERS operates a computer database designed to track servicing rights of mortgage loans anywhere in the United States. But, it also acts as a proxy for the real parties in interest in county land title records. Most importantly, MERS is filing hundreds of thousands of foreclosure lawsuits on behalf of financiers. In this quarter's teleconference, Christopher Peterson, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor of Law at the University of Utah, will share some insights from his forthcoming law review article exploring the MERS system. In advance of the teleconference, participants are invited to download a rough, working draft of Dean Peterson's research free of charge from the Social Science Research Network at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1469749. Group Website: http://www.abanet.org/dch/committee.cfm?com=RP279000 Commercial Real Estate Transactions Group And Real Estate Financing Group Wednesday, November 11, 2009 3:00 p.m. CST Dial In: 800-504-8071, Passcode: 9885590 Certificates of Insurance--New Forms; Old Liability
Rod Clement from Jackson, MS and Arthur E.Pape from Wheaton, IL, both members of The American College of Real Estate Lawyers, will summarize issues created by accepting industry standard (ACORD) certificates of insurance as evidence of complying with insurance requirements in real estate transactions; will describe changes made to new certificate forms; and will review new state legislation and state administrative bulletins dealing with certificates.
Leasing Group Conference Call ? Sponsored by the Ground Leasing Committee Thursday, November 12, 2009, 4:00-5:00 p.m. CST Call in number: 800/504-8071, Passcode: 9885651 WHO GETS HURT WHEN A GROUND LEASE PARTY GOES BANKRUPT? What are the effects of bankruptcy on Landlords, Tenants, Subtenants, and Lenders in a typical ground lease situation? On November 12, Professor Marshall Tracht will cover the fundamentals, focusing on what can be done to preserve the benefit of each other's bargain if one or more of the Landlord, Tenant or Lender find themselves in bankruptcy. Many of the same principles apply to space leases as well, so even if you're not doing any ground lease work now, don't miss this program. This is a FREE benefit of being a member of the Leasing Group. Professor Tracht is the Director of Graduate Real Estate Programs at New York Law School and teaches Bankruptcy, Real Estate Transactions and Finance, and Advanced Real Estate Financing. Professor Tracht was a member of the Hofstra University School of Law faculty from 1994 to 2008, serving as Vice Dean from 2001 to 2006. He is a member of the editorial board of The Banking Law Journal, a contributing editor to the Real Estate Law Report, and has written extensively in the areas of real estate development and construction financing, workouts, and bankruptcy. His articles have appeared in the Cornell Law Review and Vanderbilt Law Review, among others, and he was a winner of the 1997-98 Grant Gilmore Award for excellence in legal scholarship. Before going into academia, Professor Tracht practiced in the real estate and bankruptcy groups at Arnold & Porter LLP in Washington, D.C. and clerked for the Honorable S. Martin Teel of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Columbia. Leasing Group website: http://www.abanet.org/dch/committee.cfm?com=RP259000 Residential, Multi-Family And Special Use Group Tuesday, November 17, 2009, 11:00-12:00 PM CST
Dial-In #: 800-504-8071, Pass code: 9885590 Please join us for a conference call on the latest servicer efforts to help homeowners avoid foreclosure. This discussion will include an overview of the status of the Home Affordable Modification Program ("HAMP") established as part of the larger Making Home Affordable program. Group Website: http://www.abanet.org/dch/committee.cfm?com=RP246000 Retail Leasing Committee will hold its next call in the series, "The Nuts and Bolts of Retail Leases." The subject of the call will be "Assignment and Subletting." Thursday, November 19, 2009, 12:00-12:30 pm CST
Dial-in #: 800 954 0691; No pass code is required Materials for the call will be available under the "Publications" section of the Retail Leasing Committee's web page at http://www.abanet.org/dch/committee.cfm?com=RP301000
The "Nuts and Bolts of Retail Leases" is a bi-monthly conference call series designed to provide newly practicing lawyers, as well as those new to the retail leasing field, with a basic understanding of the provisions and concepts that are unique to retail leases. Over the course of the series, co-hosts will fully negotiate a retail lease, from a landlord's and tenant's perspective, so that attendees may gain an understanding of the relevant issues. Leasing Group website: http://www.abanet.org/dch/committee.cfm?com=RP259000 | 
