What Is a Standstill Agreement in Real Estate

Deferral and subordination The main provisions of an InterCreditor agreement regarding a commercial real estate project are usually subordination and postponement. Generally, a lender in a senior or higher position (i.e., the first mortgagee) requires each subordinate lender to acknowledge that it is the source of the previous lender`s security right in the property. The most important provisions of this type of agreement are as follows: A subordination agreement is a document that subordinates the claim of one party to the claim of another party. Subordination usually occurs when a borrower wants to refinance an initial loan, for example. B a mortgage. The second lender must subordinate the claim to the collateral used to secure the first loan so that the borrower can refinance the first lender`s loan. The subordination agreement maintains the original lender`s claim on the collateral against all claims of the second lender. A standstill agreement is a kind of anti-takeover measure. Specifically, it is a contract that decides how an overbidder of an organization can buy, sell or vote shares of the target unit. If organizations are unable to negotiate a friendly deal, a status quo agreement can completely stop the hostile takeover. Property owners or developers often obtain project financing from different lenders, often for specific purposes.

For example, an apartment owner can get a mortgage for the majority of their expected costs. You can also get a second tranche of mezzanine financing. This usually closes the gap between debt and capital requirements, as mentioned in our article titled The Capital Stack. What you need to know. A standstill agreement prohibits subordinated lenders from taking action against a borrower who defaults on a loan. The standstill agreement generally states that junior lenders are no longer allowed to take action up to six months after the borrower defaults. This period allows the lead lender to take action in the event of default and gives the borrower time to make other arrangements, such as creating .B a new repayment plan or filing for bankruptcy. When a business gets a second loan using the same property as collateral, homeowners can choose whether the first lender places the new loan under the first loan or receives a new subordinated loan to the first. In both cases, lenders use a subordinated agreement to delineate the terms between them. Some lenders may also add a standstill clause to protect their interests by requiring the borrower to sign a standstill agreement. Standstill agreements are also used to suspend the usual limitation period for making a claim in court.

[1] A standstill agreement protects a company from exposure to an aggressive takeover or activist investor. It also gives the target company the advantage of having more control over the transaction by limiting the bidder`s ability to buy or sell the company`s shares or initiate proxy contests. A standstill agreement may also take place between a lending party and a borrowing party where the lending party does not require timely interest or principal payments to give the borrowing party the opportunity to revise its obligations. In the banking sector, a status quo agreement can allow the borrower to pause the repayment of the loan and ask him to comply with certain guidelines. During the standstill period, an exclusivity contract is negotiated, which ultimately changes the actual debt repayment schedule. It can be used as a substitute for bankruptcy if the borrowing party is unable to repay the loan. This standstill agreement allows the lender to collect a certain amount of debt. The lender cannot recover anything in the event of foreclosure. If the lender deals with the borrower, he or she may have a better chance of repaying the outstanding loan. In the banking world, a status quo agreement between a lender and a borrower stops the contractual repayment plan of a non-performing borrower and imposes certain actions that the borrower must take. A company under pressure from an aggressive bidder or activist investor will find a status quo agreement useful to mitigate the undesirable approach. The agreement gives the target company more control over the transaction process by requiring the bidder or investor to have the opportunity to buy or sell the company`s shares or launch proxy contests.

A standstill agreement or provision prohibits subordinated or subordinated lenders from taking corrective action for a certain period of time following a company`s late payment. A “remedy” is the enforcement action a lender can take to remedy a default. The status quo puts the junior lender`s default healing activities at a “standstill” to give the lead lender time to take certain steps if they wish. During the standstill period, virtually all remedies are prohibited, unless the agreement expressly provides for exceptions. Generally, standstill provisions do not last more than 150 to 180 days after a subordinate lender notifies the lead lender of its intention to take enforcement action. Senior lenders typically use standstill provisions to protect themselves in the event that a company defaults on the junior loan only if they consider the probability of that default to be relatively high. Senior lenders also require a standstill clause if the junior lender`s actions could jeopardize the guarantee or repayment of the senior lender`s loan. For example, the loan agreement for a junior loan may stipulate that the lender has the right to move to the first position on certain collateral so that it can remedy a company`s default. This would undermine the collateral position of the lead lender. A status quo agreement is a contract that contains provisions that govern how a bidder of a corporation may buy, sell or vote on shares of the target company. A status quo agreement can effectively block or stop the process of a hostile takeover if the parties cannot negotiate a friendly agreement. Where more than one lender is involved, agreements between creditors are required that set out the rights and priorities relating to each other.

The main objective is to determine what happens in the event of a borrower defaulting. Whether or not the previous lender agrees to a compromise on the true status quo agreement depends, among other things, on the type of subordinated loan. The closer the subordinated loan is to “subordinated equity” (e.B a loan from a company related to the borrower), the less likely it is that the previous lender will agree to a compromise. The subordinate lender, on the other hand, may not want to wait indefinitely before being eligible to take enforcement action. For example, if the previous lender did nothing for an extended period of time after the default, this could affect the subordinated lender due to the accumulation of interest on both loans or other amounts due. For example, the subordinated lender will sometimes require that a time limit for standstill provisions (e.B 90 days) be applied. However, if there was a deadline, the previous lender could potentially lose control of the fulfillment process once the time has elapsed. The shutdown without time limit (i.e., a “real” status quo) is therefore not a position that the previous lender should easily give up. The term standstill agreement refers to various forms of agreements that companies may enter into to delay actions that might otherwise take place. From the perspective of the previous lender, if the borrower is in default, the previous lender wants to have control and does not want the subordinated lender or anyone else to dictate the enforcement actions taken in this matter.

The previous lender therefore requires a standstill agreement from the subordinated lender. Other issues addressed in the priority and standstill agreement may include the following: A standstill agreement may also exist between a lender and a borrower if the lender stops requiring a scheduled payment of interest or principal on a loan to give the borrower time to restructure its liabilities. .