For Divorce and Family Law Attorneys

Commercial Real Estate in Dissolution: We Finance the Buyout or the Bridge to Sale

Commercial Lending Solutions places financing for commercial and investment real property caught inside a marital dissolution, from a spousal equalization payment to a court ordered sale under a marital settlement agreement deadline. We work directly with divorce and family law attorneys, forensic accountants, and mediators to get a lender's commitment in hand before the next hearing, not after. Every engagement is structured on the same arm's length, market basis regardless of which spouse retained us, so neither party can later argue the financing favored the other.

Email loans@clscre.com → Call 310.708.0690

Trevor Damyan, Commercial Mortgage Broker · Los Angeles · Nationwide

~$1B Loan Volume

1,000+ Lender Relationships

50 States Served

20+ Yrs Industry Experience

Situations We Handle

The Financing Problems We Solve for Your Clients

Dissolution timelines do not wait for conventional underwriting, and a marital estate's commercial real estate rarely fits neatly into one financing box. Below are the situations divorce and family law practices bring us most often. If your client's situation does not fit a single category, call us. Complex ownership structures inside a dissolution are where we do our best work.

Spousal Buyout of a Jointly Owned Commercial Property

One spouse is retaining an apartment building, office building, or other commercial asset and needs to refinance out the departing spouse's equity in a single transaction. The refinance has to cover the equalization payment called for in the marital settlement agreement, clear the existing loan, and still leave the retaining spouse with a debt service coverage ratio a lender will underwrite. We size the buyout refinance around the number the MSA actually requires, not a generic loan amount, and we structure the closing to fund concurrently with the transfer of title.

Court Ordered Sale Under a Marital Settlement Agreement Deadline

The MSA or a pending judgment sets a 60 to 120 day window to sell a jointly held commercial property, and a conventional bank's underwriting and closing timeline will not get there. Short term bridge financing, either against the property or for the party acquiring it, keeps the sale moving on the schedule the court expects. We have closed on compressed timelines specifically because the alternative was a missed MSA deadline and a return trip to family court.

Family Business Real Estate Dividing Alongside the Business Itself

The marital estate includes a medical office building, a restaurant property, an industrial building, or other real estate that houses a family owned business the dissolution is also dividing. Financing the real property separately from the operating business lets one spouse retain the building as a landlord asset while the other retains or sells the business, and it removes the entanglement of a shared mortgage between two parties who no longer operate together. We structure the real estate financing independent of the business's cash flow wherever the lease supports it.

Multi-Property Marital Estate Requiring Separate Refinancing

A high net worth marital estate holding several commercial or investment properties, sometimes across multiple states, needs each asset refinanced or recapitalized independently as the properties are divided between the spouses. We coordinate financing across the full portfolio so each spouse walks away with clean title and their own loan, rather than remaining cross collateralized with a former spouse on paper long after the judgment is entered.

Real Property Held in a Family Trust, LLC, or Tenancy in Common Subject to Division

Commercial real estate titled inside a family trust, a single purpose LLC, or held as tenants in common complicates a straightforward buyout because the lender has to underwrite the entity, not just the individual. We work with counsel to structure the financing around the actual vesting, whether that means a loan to the LLC with a personal guaranty from the retaining spouse, or a refinance that closes concurrently with a trust amendment or an interspousal transfer deed.

Disputed Financeability, Forensic Accountant Needs an Independent Analysis

Opposing counsel or a court appointed forensic accountant is challenging whether a proposed buyout or sale is actually financeable at the value the parties have put forward. We provide an independent financeability analysis addressing what a lender will realistically size to, what rate and term the property qualifies for today, and what the net proceeds look like after costs, so the analysis holds up whether it is used to support a settlement conference or presented as an exhibit.

Receivership Controlled Property Needs Bridge Capital Pending Sale

The court has appointed a receiver to manage and preserve a contested commercial property while the dissolution is pending, and the property needs capital, whether to fund deferred maintenance, cover a maturing loan, or complete a value preserving improvement, before a sale can close. We place bridge financing structured around the receiver's authority and the court's oversight, and we work directly with the receiver and both sides' counsel so the financing does not become another point of contention.

Why CLS CRE

What Makes Us the Right Partner for Divorce and Family Law Matters

Financing inside a dissolution is not the same assignment as financing an arm's length purchase. Timelines are set by the court, not by the lender, both spouses and their counsel are watching for any hint of favoritism, and the file sometimes has to hold up as an exhibit. We built our process around those realities.

Both Sides Get the Same Result

We do not represent either spouse in the litigation and we do not take a side in it. Every financing option we present is offered on the same arm's length, market terms whether we are engaged by the retaining spouse, the departing spouse, or jointly by both parties' counsel. That neutrality is often the reason a stalled negotiation starts moving again.

Speed That Matches Family Court Timelines

We understand what a 90 day MSA deadline actually means for a refinance, and we build the commitment letter and closing timeline to match it rather than the other way around. When a hearing date is driving the calendar, we tell counsel early whether conventional financing can hit it or whether a bridge structure is the realistic path.

Direct Access to Private Bridge Lenders and Life Insurance Company Correspondents

We are not limited to what a single retail bank's loan committee will approve on a compressed timeline. Through more than 1,000 lender relationships, including private bridge lenders, life insurance company correspondents, and portfolio lenders, we can usually find a program built for the timeline the court has set rather than waiting on one that was not.

Discretion Built Into Every File

Borrower names, deal terms, and the underlying dissolution never appear in anything we publish or discuss publicly. Sensitive family matters stay contained to the parties and their counsel, and our financing submissions are prepared the same careful way whether the marital estate is modest or eight figures.

Creative Structuring for Complicated Vesting

Family trusts, single purpose LLCs, tenancy in common, cross collateralized portfolios spanning multiple states. We have placed financing around each of these structures and we know which lenders will underwrite an entity in transition without insisting the dissolution be fully resolved first.

We Keep You and Your Client Informed at Every Stage

You need to know where financing stands before the next status conference, not after. We provide direct, regular updates on which lenders are in underwriting, what conditions remain outstanding, and a realistic closing date, so you can represent the timeline accurately to the court and to opposing counsel.

How It Works

How the Referral Works, Three Steps

We have designed the referral process to be as straightforward as possible for you. You make the introduction. We assess the situation, engage your client directly, and keep you informed at every stage until closing.

Make a Warm Introduction

Send an email to loans@clscre.com or call 310.708.0690 and describe the situation in plain terms. We do not need the full file to start. Tell us the property type, what the marital settlement agreement or pending judgment requires, whether one spouse is retaining or selling, and the timeline, and we will tell you quickly whether we can help and what the realistic financing options look like.
We Engage the Client Directly and Keep You Informed

We gather the operating financials, existing loan documents, and the specific language in the MSA or judgment that governs the transaction, then take the file directly to lenders equipped to close on the timeline involved, private bridge lenders, life insurance company correspondents, or conventional sources where the timeline allows. You receive status updates you can rely on and repeat to the court if asked.
Your Client Gets Financed, You Get a Reliable Referral Partner

Your client receives financing sized to what the dissolution actually requires, on a timeline that holds up in front of the court. We are compensated by the borrower at closing. There is no cost to you or your client for the referral relationship, and we do not share fees with non-licensed parties, consistent with the rules of professional conduct that govern referral compensation for attorneys.

BBB Accredited Business

Mortgage Bankers Association Member

California DRE Licensed

CBRE and Marcus & Millichap Pedigree

1,000+ Lender Relationships

Nationwide Coverage, 50 States

Frequently Asked Questions

What Divorce and Family Law Attorneys Ask Us

One spouse is buying out the other's interest in a commercial property in this dissolution. How do you size that refinance?

We start with the number the marital settlement agreement actually calls for, the equalization payment owed to the departing spouse, plus whatever is needed to clear the existing loan balance and closing costs. That total becomes the target loan amount, and we work backward to confirm the property's income supports a debt service coverage ratio a lender will accept at that amount, typically 1.20x to 1.25x or better depending on property type and lender.

If the property cash flows enough to support the full buyout amount on conventional terms, we place the refinance with a bank, credit union, or agency source depending on property type. If the buyout number is larger than the property's income can conventionally support, we look at a cash out structure with a private or bridge lender, or a partial buyout combined with a note or holdback for the balance, and we lay out both paths for you and your client rather than assuming one.

We also confirm early whether the retaining spouse can qualify individually, since a divorce in progress sometimes complicates personal financial statements and tax returns that lenders want to see. Where that is an issue, we identify it in the first conversation, not at underwriting.

Our marital settlement agreement gives us 90 days to refinance or list the property for sale. Can a lender actually close on that timeline?

A conventional bank refinance, agency loan, or CMBS execution rarely closes inside 90 days once you account for application, appraisal, third party reports, and committee approval. If the property and the borrower are strong candidates and the lender is already familiar with the file, it is possible, but it is not something we would ask a court to count on.

What reliably hits a 90 day window is bridge financing. A private bridge lender or a portfolio lender can underwrite primarily on the real estate and the retaining spouse's basic qualification, skip the layers of committee review a conventional source requires, and close in three to five weeks in a straightforward case. We frequently place the bridge as the near term solution that satisfies the MSA deadline, with a plan to refinance into permanent, lower cost financing once the dissolution is finalized and the retaining spouse's financial picture has settled.

If the deadline is truly at risk, tell us as early as possible. The single biggest driver of a missed deadline is not the lender's speed, it is how late in the process the financing conversation started.

The court has appointed a receiver over a commercial property in this matter. Can CLS CRE work within a receivership?

Yes. We work with the receiver directly and structure the financing within the scope of authority the court's order gives them, whether that is authority to obtain a loan against the property, to fund improvements, or simply to preserve the asset pending sale. We confirm the order's language with the receiver and, where helpful, with both sides' counsel before we take a deal to lenders, so there is no ambiguity about what the receiver is actually authorized to sign.

Lenders who work with receivership properties are a narrower group than the general private lending market, since the collateral sits under court supervision and the borrowing party is not a typical owner. We know which of our lender relationships are comfortable underwriting a receivership file and structuring the loan documents accordingly, which saves time compared to shopping the deal broadly and discovering most lenders decline once they see a receiver in the file.

Opposing counsel is disputing whether the property can actually be refinanced at the value our expert used. Can you provide an independent opinion?

We are not appraisers and we do not offer a valuation opinion. What we can provide is a financeability analysis, a realistic assessment of what a lender would actually size a loan to today, at what rate and term, given the property's current income, expenses, and market conditions. That is a different, narrower question than fair market value, and it is often the more useful question in a dissolution because the parties eventually need financing to actually close, not just a number in a settlement.

We prepare that analysis in writing with our reasoning shown, the debt service coverage math, the comparable loan terms we are seeing in the market for similar assets, and any conditions that would affect financeability, deferred maintenance, lease rollover, environmental issues, or title matters among them. Counsel and the forensic accountant on either side can use it to support a settlement conference or, where needed, it can be presented as an exhibit.

We stay in our lane. If the dispute is fundamentally about value rather than financeability, that is a question for an appraiser, not for us, and we say so directly.

Since we represent one spouse and you may end up talking to both, how do you avoid a conflict of interest or the appearance that CLS CRE favors one side?

We are a commercial mortgage broker, not a party to the dissolution and not legal counsel to either spouse. Whoever engages us, one spouse's attorney, the other's, or both jointly, receives the same treatment, the same market terms, and the same disclosure of what we found and why. We do not advocate for a settlement position, recommend how the property should be divided, or take instruction from one side that we would not disclose to the other if asked.

In contested matters we are explicit with both sides' counsel about the scope of our engagement before we begin, typically that we are assessing financeability and, if instructed, sourcing financing, and nothing beyond that. Where the situation calls for it, we will put our findings in writing and share them with both counsel simultaneously rather than route information through only one side.

On compensation, we are paid by the borrower at closing on standard, arm's length terms disclosed up front. We do not pay referral fees to attorneys or share compensation with any non-licensed party, which keeps the arrangement clean under the fee sharing rules that govern attorney referrals in every state we work in.

Start a Referral Conversation

For divorce and family law attorneys, mediators, forensic accountants, and their clients working through the financing side of a marital dissolution, contact Trevor Damyan directly. No forms, no gatekeepers. Tell us what the settlement requires and we will tell you what is realistically financeable.