During the peak of the market bubble, the lists of approved consultants that I maintained for some of our CMBS clients exceeded a dozen pages. Often times, we would approve a consultant who was not on the list on a one-off basis if they did a phase 1 that was acceptable in scope and who had a strong relationship with the borrower. Some lender clients did not even go through the drill of preparing a list of approved consultants but simply wanted to make sure that the phase 1 reports met their SOWs.
As the CMBS market slowly revives, it appears that many banks are keeping a tight rein on the universe of consultants who can do work for them. Previously dormant shops that are starting to ramp up to originate CMBS loans are asking me for a "short list" of consulting firms. Often times, the list is around a half-dozen. And the lenders are trying to evenly spread around the work.
Some banks are also starting to disqualify firms that heavily rely on independent contractors who are known as "1099" employees. The feeling is that firms that use a higher percentage of independent contractors may not be consistently providing quality work.
This smaller universe of consultants does make my job easier and helps promote better quality work. With firms in the on-deck circle and sitting on the bench waiting to get called up, we dont have much tolerance for firms that do not consistently meet our expectations. Even some of the phase 1 mills are starting to produce better reports.
Now if we could only get EPA to require that the site visits be conducted by EPs...........
As the CMBS market slowly revives, it appears that many banks are keeping a tight rein on the universe of consultants who can do work for them. Previously dormant shops that are starting to ramp up to originate CMBS loans are asking me for a "short list" of consulting firms. Often times, the list is around a half-dozen. And the lenders are trying to evenly spread around the work.
Some banks are also starting to disqualify firms that heavily rely on independent contractors who are known as "1099" employees. The feeling is that firms that use a higher percentage of independent contractors may not be consistently providing quality work.
This smaller universe of consultants does make my job easier and helps promote better quality work. With firms in the on-deck circle and sitting on the bench waiting to get called up, we dont have much tolerance for firms that do not consistently meet our expectations. Even some of the phase 1 mills are starting to produce better reports.
Now if we could only get EPA to require that the site visits be conducted by EPs...........
"Now if we could only get EPA to require that the site visits be conducted by EPs..........." Amen, Larry!!
ReplyDelete