The mortgage REIT industry was all but wiped out in the financial crisis.  Three years later, the U.S. mortgage market remains in disarray, with the future of the bankrupt mortgage giants, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, in serious question and other pre-crisis mortgage market players ensnarled in billions of dollars of litigation claims.  In recent months, some of the most formidable companies on Wall Street  - including PIMCO, Apollo, Starwood, Invesco and AllianceBernstein - have formed new mortgage REITs, placing large bets on a rosy future for the mortgage REIT industry.

What role will mortgage REITs play in leading the U.S. out of its housing recession?  Will mortgage REITs supplant banks and the GSEs as dominant mortgage market players?  Partner Thomas A. Humphreys and Senior Of Counsel Kenneth E. Kohler will explore the advantages and disadvantages of mortgage REITs in the post-crisis legal and regulatory environment, and address the legal steps required to form and operate a mortgage REIT and protect it in the next financial downturn.

Topics to be discussed include:

• The historical role of mortgage REITs in mortgage finance
• The market opportunity:  How is this time different?
• Why mortgage REITs? A comparison to banks and non-bank finance companies
• Navigating the REIT tax rules in conducting a mortgage business
• The critical role of taxable REIT subsidiaries
• Meeting the challenge of financing a REIT’s mortgage business

Speakers:

• Thomas A. Humphreys, Partner, Morrison & Foerster LLP
• Kenneth E. Kohler, Senior Of Counsel, Morrison & Foerster LLP

PLI will provide CLE credit.