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Hotel Lawyers -- featured subjects and articles


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Workouts, Bankruptcies & Receiverships


Hotel Management Agreements


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This is Jim Butler, author of www.HotelLawBlog.com and hotel lawyer. Please contact me at Jim Butler at jbutler@jmbm.com or 310.201.3526.

Global Financial Crisis & Recovery

Posted On: April 2, 2009 by the JMBM Global Hospitality Group®

Ask the Hotel Lawyer: Hotel bankruptcy trump card. Terminating hotel management agreements without liability -- the alchemy of lead to gold for troubled hotels and hotel loans?

By Jim Butler and the Global Hospitality Group®
Hotel Lawyers | Authors of www.HotelLawBlog.com
2 April 2009

How do you terminate a long-term hotel management agreement or HMA? The hotel bankruptcy trump card. This is an increasingly popular question regularly put to the hotel lawyers of JMBM's Global Hospitality Group®.

Continue reading "Ask the Hotel Lawyer: Hotel bankruptcy trump card. Terminating hotel management agreements without liability -- the alchemy of lead to gold for troubled hotels and hotel loans?" »

Posted On: March 19, 2009 by the JMBM Global Hospitality Group®

Hotel Attorneys and CMBS special servicers look to have a big (and free!) part of the solution to the liquidity crisis, depressed real estate, and hotel values as well as a better way to dispose of toxic assets. Is Geithner listening?

By Jim Butler and the Global Hospitality Group®
Hotel Lawyers | Authors of www.HotelLawBlog.com
19 March 2009

Hotel Lawyer with some potentially good news for our bad economy

Last week I had a conversation with one of the country's top CMBS special loan servicers, who happens to also be a friend as well as a good client. We were talking about dealing with some of his company's increasing volume of assets under "special servicing" and the difficulties presented by REMIC regulations.

Continue reading "Hotel Attorneys and CMBS special servicers look to have a big (and free!) part of the solution to the liquidity crisis, depressed real estate, and hotel values as well as a better way to dispose of toxic assets. Is Geithner listening?" »

Posted On: March 17, 2009 by the JMBM Global Hospitality Group®

Hotel Attorneys: Looking for a way to significantly increase your hotel's cash flow... NOW? Here's one of the most overlooked approaches. "TINSTAAFL" suspended?

By Jim Butler and the Global Hospitality Group®
Hotel Lawyers | Authors of www.HotelLawBlog.com
18 March 2009

Hotel Attorneys with a potentially critical tip for owners and lenders -- instantly increasing your hotel's cash flow. It is often overlooked. Who says "There Is No Such Thing As a Free Lunch" ("TINSTAFL") ?

Hotel attorneys know that times are tough and getting tougher. Moody's Economy.com and PKF are now projecting a deeper and more extended downturn and a more delayed recovery. Hotel Lawyer with new data from Moody's Economy.com and deteriorating projections for the lodging industry. and Jim Butler quote in USA today More hotels are facing foreclosure, bankruptcy.

So here is a rock-solid tip that could instantly boost cash flow for savvy borrowers and lenders who qualify. This will be particularly valuable to hotels bought or built in the last 5 to 10 years . . . or maybe longer.

Continue reading "Hotel Attorneys: Looking for a way to significantly increase your hotel's cash flow... NOW? Here's one of the most overlooked approaches. "TINSTAAFL" suspended?" »

Posted On: March 16, 2009 by the JMBM Global Hospitality Group®

Hotel Attorney: How will the Stimulus Bill help tribal governments finance hotel projects in Indian Country?

By Jim Butler and the Global Hospitality Group®
Hotel Lawyers | Authors of www.HotelLawBlog.com
16 March 2009

Hotel Attorneys with an important and different perspective on the Stimulus Bill: How will it help tribal governments finance hotel projects in Indian Country

On March 15, Hotel Attorney, Catherine Holmes, sat down with our good friend, Valerie Red-Horse of Red-Horse Financial Group, to talk about how the American Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 will help tribal governments finance new hotel developments on tribal land.

Continue reading "Hotel Attorney: How will the Stimulus Bill help tribal governments finance hotel projects in Indian Country?" »

Posted On: March 6, 2009 by the JMBM Global Hospitality Group®

Hotel Lawyer: What lies ahead? What's the bailout cost $700 billion? $3 trillion? $20 trillion? What does Dr. Doom mean by an L-shaped Depression?

By Jim Butler and the Global Hospitality Group®
Hotel Lawyers | Authors of www.HotelLawBlog.com
6 March 2009

Hotel Lawyer with a few questions on the cost of the bailout and what lies ahead

As many recent articles referenced below recount, and as we all know from the headlines, we are in "interesting times". We talk about the $700 billion bailout bill and the possibility of doubling the amount to get out of the scary situation we are in. But is that really the cost, and is it going to do the job?

Here are some interesting facts and a few thoughts.

Continue reading "Hotel Lawyer: What lies ahead? What's the bailout cost $700 billion? $3 trillion? $20 trillion? What does Dr. Doom mean by an L-shaped Depression?" »

Posted On: March 4, 2009 by the JMBM Global Hospitality Group®

Hotel Lawyer: Stimulus Bill and financial recovery -- summary of selected tax provisions

By Jim Butler and the Global Hospitality Group®
Hotel Lawyers | Authors of www.HotelLawBlog.com
4 March 2009

Hotel Lawyer with

The landmark Stimulus Bill has commanded a lot of attention for the TARP and TALF provisions, (see Hotel Lawyers on the TARP, the TALF, and the ugly), but our dauntless tax attorneys have naturally focused on the $288 billion of stimulus that is projected to come from tax breaks.

Here is a summary of the most important provisions and what they do.



Continue reading "Hotel Lawyer: Stimulus Bill and financial recovery -- summary of selected tax provisions" »

Posted On: March 3, 2009 by the JMBM Global Hospitality Group®

Hotel bankruptcies, workouts and turnarounds: Hotel Lawyers on the TARP, the TALF, and the ugly. What does it mean to hotel owners and lenders?

By Jim Butler and the Global Hospitality Group®
Hotel Lawyers | Authors of www.HotelLawBlog.com
3 March 2009

Hotel Bankruptcy arrest by the TALF? Is there a turnaround for hotels here? Or do owners and lenders continue to fret?

Today was potentially a very important one as the US Financial Stimulus Program goes to work. The lending facility launched Tuesday, March 3, 2009 by the U. S. Department of the Treasury and the Federal Reserve is designed to generate up to $1 trillion in consumer and small business loans. This is a significant part of the TARP (the bailout bill or financial stimulus package also called the Troubled Asset Relief Program). This specific part is called the TALF standing for "Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility" which is scheduled to start dispersing funds in about three weeks, making nonrecourse loans.

Here's what I think it means for the hotel industry. . .

Continue reading "Hotel bankruptcies, workouts and turnarounds: Hotel Lawyers on the TARP, the TALF, and the ugly. What does it mean to hotel owners and lenders?" »

Posted On: February 28, 2009 by the JMBM Global Hospitality Group®

Hotel Lawyer: Uh Oh! Now they are using the "D" word

By Jim Butler and the Global Hospitality Group®
Hotel Lawyers | Authors of www.HotelLawBlog.com
28 February 2009

Hotel Lawyer update on economy.

On Friday, the US Commerce Department revised its estimate of the economy's performance for the last quarter of 2008. Instead of an "abysmal" 3.8% contraction estimated earlier, the revised figures say that our Gross Domestic Product or GDP declined at a scary 6.2% rate. And yesterday was also the first time I have seen the New York Times describe the mess we are in with the "D" word . . .

Continue reading "Hotel Lawyer: Uh Oh! Now they are using the "D" word" »

Posted On: February 17, 2009 by the JMBM Global Hospitality Group®

Hotel Attorneys with the latest "updates from the field"

By Jim Butler and the Global Hospitality Group®
Hotel Lawyers | Authors of www.HotelLawBlog.com
17 February 2009

Hospitality Lawyers with the latest reports on what is happening at hotels in the U.S. and Europe.

It is always great to get the global perspective from Mark Woodworth of PKF Consulting (see Latest insights from JMBM's Hotel Attorneys and PKF Consulting on what lies ahead for the hotel industry) and Mark Lomanno of STR, but that is only one perspective.

Here is what the hospitality attorneys of JMBM's Global Hospitality Group® are hearing from "the field" in real time . . .

Continue reading "Hotel Attorneys with the latest "updates from the field"" »

Posted On: February 15, 2009 by the JMBM Global Hospitality Group®

Hotel Lawyers: How do we pay for this? And what happens next?

By Jim Butler and the Global Hospitality Group®
Hotel Lawyers | Authors of www.HotelLawBlog.com
15 February 2009

Hotel Lawyers ask: How do we pay for this? And what happens next?

We are all in a panic to get this "crisis" over. It can't happen too soon. We are resolved to pay "whatever it takes" to do it, but up to this point, our leaders have not given us any detail to show us what they are thinking or whether any of it will work. But with people beginning to look at other currencies to replace the dollar as reserve currency of choice, we have to wonder a bit about our direction.

Continue reading "Hotel Lawyers: How do we pay for this? And what happens next?" »