News

Collaboration in Focus: Highlights from the CREFC Servicer/Investor Roundtable

February 10, 2026

CREFC’s President and CEO Lisa Pendergast recently hosted the trade association’s latest industry roundtable, bringing together Master and Special Servicers with Bond Investors to foster dialogue and build consensus across the commercial real estate finance landscape.

The gathering featured a robust lineup of industry leaders. 

• Servicers were represented by firms including Berkadia, CW Capital, K-Star, KeyBank, LNR Partners, Midland, Situs, and Trimont. 
• Bond Investors in attendance included representatives from Alliance Bernstein, DWS, Ellington, JP Morgan, Lord Abbett, MetLife, Prime Finance, Torchlight, and Webster Bank.

Common Ground and Constructive Dialogue

The evening’s discussion was characterized by a spirit of collaboration. Participants moved beyond individual interests to identify shared challenges and potential solutions for the broader market.

What they're saying: "The discussion at the table left me believing that we have more in common than we do in conflict," noted Adam Smith, Director at DWS Group and Chair of the CREFC Investment Grade Bondholders Forum. "I found it very worthwhile to identify shared pain points and agree they should be addressed."

Key Discussion Points

The conversation spanned high-level market trends and specific operational improvements, including:

• Macro Market Outlook: The current status and future trajectory of the Conduit, SASB, and CRE CLO sectors.
• Operational Enhancements: Improving the reporting processes for property releases.
• Technical Resolutions: Streamlining non-recoverable determinations to ensure market clarity.

Dana Jo Martino, SVP – Managing Director, Asset Management Servicing at Berkadia and co-Chair of the CREFC Servicer Forum, emphasized the value of these face-to-face interactions, stating:

"Our roundtable proved that when we combine diverse expertise with candid conversation, real solutions emerge," she said. "The meeting was both collaborative and highly productive, reinforcing the value of working together to address the challenges ahead."

Get Involved

CREFC Forums provide a platform for members to shape industry standards and solve complex market issues.

Click here to learn more and join a CREFC Forum.

Contact  

News Archive

News

CREFC to Convene Commercial Real Estate Finance Leaders at High Yield, Distressed Assets, and Servicing Conference in New York

February 10, 2026

NEW YORK, NY — February 10, 2026 — The CRE Finance Council (CREFC) once again plans to bring together leaders from across the commercial real estate finance ecosystem at its High Yield, Distressed Assets, and Servicing Conference on March 10, 2026, at the New York Athletic Club.

This one-day conference convenes servicers, alternative lenders, investors, and all capital markets participants focused on commercial real estate debt, with a particular emphasis on high yield strategies and sub-performing and non-performing loans. The program reflects the evolving dynamics of credit markets as private capital expands its footprint, asset classes diverge in performance, and loan maturity pressures continue to reshape investment and servicing strategies.

As the recognized voice of the commercial real estate finance industry, CREFC represents lenders, investors, issuers, servicers, and market participants across the capital stack. Through its research, policy advocacy, and member-driven programming, CREFC provides a forum for the industry’s most timely and candid discussions.

“The commercial real estate market is moving into a phase in which credit conditions, asset performance, and capital availability are no longer moving in lockstep,” said Lisa Pendergast, President and CEO of CREFC. “Private credit continues to expand its role in the lending stack, while traditional lenders adjust to a more complex risk environment. At the same time, asset stress and opportunity are emerging unevenly across property types.

“This conference brings together servicers, alternative lenders, and high yield investors operating across commercial real estate debt and equity to examine how these forces are reshaping the market in real time. Our 2026 program includes sessions tailored to the expertise of market participants, with deep dives into the expansion of private credit, signals in the New York City office recovery, multifamily opportunities and challenges, evolving dynamics in hospitality, and innovative approaches to servicing.”

Key sessions at the High Yield, Distressed Assets, and Servicing Conference include:

• Private Credit Expansion: Evolving Players in the Debt Stack
• NYC Office: Separating Signal from Noise in the Recovery
• The NYC Multifamily Squeeze: Managing Opportunities
• Heads in Beds, Stress in the Stack: Hospitality Deep Dive
• Beyond the Box: Servicing Complex and Emerging CRE Assets
• Reimagining Urban Real Estate: One-on-One with GFP’s Brian Steinwurtzel

CREFC gratefully acknowledges the support of our conference sponsors, including Partner Sponsor Holland & Knight.

Event Details:

• When: March 10, 2026
• Where: New York Athletic Club | 180 Central Park South | New York, NY 10019
  
• Conference Program 
  
• Registration

Contact  

News Archive

News

Anti-Single-Family Rental Bills Make a Committee Appearance

February 10, 2026

Legislation that would restrict institutional investors’ ability to own single-family houses has been “attached” to a House Financial Services Committee hearing today, Tuesday, February 10. 

• The hearing is entitled Priced Out of the American Dream: Understanding the Policies Behind Rising Costs of Housing and Borrowing. 
• According to the Committee memo, this hearing will examine how policies in the financial services and housing sectors have contributed to rising cost-of-living pressures for American families by restricting access to capital and credit.

Why it matters: This action indicates the legislation could advance through committee process and potentially to the House floor, though a markup or floor action is not yet planned.

• As we covered previously, the White House issued an executive order on January 20 covering institutional ownership of single-family homes targeting single-family rentals. The order mainly focuses on government agencies and curtailing federal involvement with such arrangements. Click here for CREFC’s analysis of the order.
• Industry observers originally thought committee action was unlikely given the stances of GOP committee leadership, but this is viewed as an escalation of the issue, even if the legislation ultimately does not advance. 
• On February 9, the White House issued a Statement of Administrative Policy that praises the Housing for the 21st Century Act, but it notes the bill lacks a ban on institutional investors purchasing single-family homes. If the White House insists on that provision, it could complicate a housing bill’s path to enactment.

Go deeper: The following bills are attached to today’s hearing, though they may not be substantively discussed by the witnesses or the committee members: 

• H.R. 6962, the Families First Housing Act of 2026 (Rep. Pat Harrigan R-NC). This bill requires federal agencies selling single-family homes they own to create a 180-day window in which the property is only available for purchase by “qualified first-look” buyers. Those buyers are defined as a natural person intending to occupy the property as their primary residence, nonprofit housing organizations, units of local government, or community land trusts. The legislation would also require each federal agency with disposition authority to establish and maintain a public website identifying eligible properties available for sale.
• H.R. 7186, the American Family Housing Act (Rep. Mary Miller R-IL). This bill directs the SEC to monitor and prohibit investment firms with more than $100 billion in assets from purchasing single-family homes or from acquiring more than a 49 percent ownership in entities that own more than 100 single-family properties.
• H.R. __, a bill to set restrictions on the sale of single-family homes by the federal government (Rep. Marlin Stutzman R-IN). This discussion draft directs various federal agencies that finance single-family mortgage loans or sell real estate-owned properties to implement guidelines that restrict the guaranteeing, securitization, or transfer of single-family homes to large institutional investors. The legislation also includes narrow, tailored exceptions for build-to-rent developments that are planned, permitted, and financed as rental communities, along with other limited exceptions determined by the relevant agency head.

Contact David McCarthy (dmccarthy@crefc.org) with questions.

Contact 

News Archive

News

House Passes Housing Supply Bill 

February 10, 2026

On February 9, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed the Housing for the 21st Century Act in a bipartisan 390-9 vote. CREFC and 11 other real estate trade organizations sent a joint letter urging passage ahead of the vote. Click here for the letter. 

Why it matters: Both the House and Senate have passed housing supply bills, and now the chambers must negotiate to align their priorities and advance a bill to the President’s desk. 

Go deeper: Recall the Senate passed the ROAD to Housing Act last fall and attached it to the must-pass defense bill, but House leadership rejected the provision in favor of the House Financial Services Committee working through its own bill. 

• ROAD and Housing 21 both seek to boost housing supply by reducing burdensome regulation, streamlining approvals, and incentivizing pro-housing zoning policies. 
• However, some House Republicans are opposed to certain bipartisan provisions in the Senate bill. 
• The House-passed bill also includes several community bank bills that aim to reduce regulations and burdens on small banks. Click here for a section-by-section summary of the Housing 21 bill.

What’s next: Lawmakers will need to work to advance a compromise bill soon, as bipartisan appetite for legislation will diminish as the midterm elections get closer. 

Yes, but: The White House issued a Statement of Administrative Policy that praises the bill, but it notes the bill lacks a ban on institutional investors purchasing single-family homes (see our story below for more detail). If the White House insists on that provision, it could complicate a housing bill’s path to enactment. 

Contact David McCarthy (dmccarthy@crefc.org) with questions. 

Contact 

News Archive

News

CREFC to Convene Commercial Real Estate Finance Leaders at High Yield, Distressed Assets, and Servicing Conference in New York

February 10, 2026

Industry leaders to explore how to navigate today’s complex commercial real estate finance environment

The CRE Finance Council (CREFC) once again plans to bring together leaders from across the commercial real estate finance ecosystem at its High Yield, Distressed Assets, and Servicing Conference on March 10, 2026, at the New York Athletic Club.

This one-day conference convenes servicers, alternative lenders, investors, and all capital markets participants focused on commercial real estate debt, with a particular emphasis on high yield strategies and sub-performing and non-performing loans. The program reflects the evolving dynamics of credit markets as private capital expands its footprint, asset classes diverge in performance, and loan maturity pressures continue to reshape investment and servicing strategies.

As the recognized voice of the commercial real estate finance industry, CREFC represents lenders, investors, issuers, servicers, and market participants across the capital stack. Through its research, policy advocacy, and member-driven programming, CREFC provides a forum for the industry’s most timely and candid discussions.

“The commercial real estate market is moving into a phase in which credit conditions, asset performance, and capital availability are no longer moving in lockstep,” said Lisa Pendergast, President and CEO of CREFC. “Private credit continues to expand its role in the lending stack, while traditional lenders adjust to a more complex risk environment. At the same time, asset stress and opportunity are emerging unevenly across property types.

“This conference brings together servicers, alternative lenders, and high yield investors operating across commercial real estate debt and equity to examine how these forces are reshaping the market in real time. Our 2026 program includes sessions tailored to the expertise of market participants, with deep dives into the expansion of private credit, signals in the New York City office recovery, multifamily opportunities and challenges, evolving dynamics in hospitality, and innovative approaches to servicing.”

Key sessions at the High Yield, Distressed Assets, and Servicing Conference include:

• Private Credit Expansion: Evolving Players in the Debt Stack
• NYC Office: Separating Signal from Noise in the Recovery
• The NYC Multifamily Squeeze: Managing Opportunities
• Heads in Beds, Stress in the Stack: Hospitality Deep Dive
• Beyond the Box: Servicing Complex and Emerging CRE Assets
• Reimagining Urban Real Estate: One-on-One with GFP’s Brian Steinwurtzel

CREFC gratefully acknowledges the support of our conference sponsors, including Partner Sponsor Holland & Knight.

When:
March 10, 2026

Where:
New York Athletic Club
180 Central Park South
New York, NY 10019

Event Details: 
Conference Program 
Registration 

Contact  

News Archive

News

Department of Homeland Security Funding Faces Another Shutdown Risk

February 10, 2026

Washington may be heading toward an awkward Valentine’s Day, with lawmakers facing a February 14 deadline to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) or risk another partial shutdown. 

Last week President Trump signed a bill to fully fund the remaining five government agencies through September 30, 2026, that were closed during the government shutdown in early February. They include:

• Defense,
• Financial Services and General Government Appropriations,
• Labor-HHS-Education,
• National Security-State, and
• Transportation-HUD.

However, the bill only funds DHS until this coming Friday, Feb. 13 to give lawmakers more time to work out a deal.

What's next: On Sunday, the Democrats sent Republicans a list of ten demands they are calling “guardrails” in order to pass a compromise bill. These guardrails include judicial warrant requirements and limits on mask wearing by ICE agents, along with others you can read about here.

However, negotiations have not proved productive as of yet, with Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) recently stating. 

The bottom line: If the Senate doesn’t pass a bill to fund DHS by Wednesday, that leaves almost no time to get a bill over to the House and signed into law before Friday. 

• To complicate matters, the House is scheduled to be on recess starting on Friday, February 13 and not returning until Monday, February 23.
• This could set up a weekslong shutdown of the department. A short term funding patch could extend negotiations through late February, but the underlying issues would likely remain unresolved.
• Many lawmakers are expecting a shutdown of DHS at this point due to time constraints. If a shutdown does happen, it will be limited to programs under DHS, which includes airport TSA and FEMA. While TSA agents would still be deemed “essential”, they would work without pay as in past shutdowns. 

Contact James Montfort (jmontfort@crefc.org) with any questions.

Contact 

News Archive