BREAKOUT SESSION: Closing Catastrophes - War Stories and Workarounds

Partner, Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Arren is a Real Estate partner in the Charlotte and New York offices of Seyfarth Shaw LLP. He serves as co-lead of the firm’s Distressed Situations team and is heavily involved with distressed asset situations, including loan workouts and restructurings. Arren represents loan servicers in connection with a wide array of loan servicing matters, including transfer of ownership matters (such as non-permitted equity transfers and loan assumptions), loan modifications, forbearance agreements, property substitutions and leasing-related matters. Additionally, Arren represents lenders, developers, owners and investors in a variety of other complex real estate financing transactions. Arren is the pro bono chair of the firm’s Charlotte office.

President, FundingShield LLC

Vice President, Sr. Closer, Colliers Mortgage

Mary Funderburk is Vice President/Senior Closer with Colliers Mortgage in Charlotte, NC. Mary joined Colliers in 2023 after spending 20 years with Grandbridge Real Estate Capital as well as prior stints as a paralegal in residential real estate, corporate and tax along with spending time in various law firms, law enforcement agencies and social agencies. She has specialized in closing loans for insurance companies, conduit lenders and banks across all property types at Colliers and Grandbridge, having closed over 1,500 loans totaling $10 billion for over 120 lenders during her career.

Partner, Ballard Spahr LLP

Rania S. Galan is a partner with Ballard Spahr LLP, a national law firm that represents more than 75 housing authorities, closes hundreds of bond transactions as bond and underwriter's counsel, and is involved in thousands of tax-credit transactions. Ballard Spahr routinely represents borrowers and more than a dozen lenders under all of the multifamily programs of Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Rania represents borrowers and mortgage lenders in commercial real estate financing transactions. Her practice involves the construction, rehabilitation, acquisition, and refinancing of market rate and affordable multifamily and healthcare facilities, with an emphasis on Fannie Mae agency loans and loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). She counsels on the impact of the National Housing Act and FHA regulations, and advises clients on a variety of financing structures, concentrating on transactions involving bridge loan financing, Section 8 properties, tax-exempt bonds, tax credits, and healthcare financing. Rania and her Ballard Spahr colleagues represent private and public lenders, borrowers, and other clients nationwide, counseling on all aspects of HUD-insured financing transactions. Their work has included acquisition, rehabilitation, and new construction loans; tax-exempt bond financings credit enhanced by HUD insurance; Government National Mortgage Association mortgage-backed securities; IRP decoupling transactions; and transfer of physical assets applications. They are experienced in virtually all of HUD's multifamily programs and with the related tax, securities, environmental, and other legal issues associated with HUD transactions.

Vice President, Walker & Dunlop, LLC