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Mortgage association couldn’t afford its own mortgage

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February 9, 2010

You know times are bad when the Mortgage Bankers Association, the outfit that represents more than 2,000 real estate finance companies, can’t afford its own mortgage and has to dump its property at a loss.

The MBA has sold its 10-story headquarters in Washington, DC, for half what it paid for the building just three years ago.

When the association paid $79 million for the downtown DC building in 2007, the MBA — which had been leasing its previous headquarters — said it would finance the purchase by leasing out unused space.

“We have come to the inescapable conclusions that owning our own building is the smarest long-term investment for the association,” said Johnathan Kemper, the MBA CEO at the time.

Kemper is gone from the MBA and so — apparently — are available tenants for the building. According to The Wall Street Journal, only 10 percent of the spaces is leased.

So MBA dumped the property for $41 million — a $38 million loss — to CoStar Group, a commercial real estate information company that is big enough to occupy 80 percent of the building.

“It’s a quality building at a rock bottom price,” says Andrew Florance, CEO of CoStar. “We think we’ll save tens of millions of dollars over the next decade.”

And the MBA? The group that promotes property ownership through mortgage financing is shopping for space to rent.

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Posted by on February 9, 2010. Filed under FUBAR. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

3 Responses to Mortgage association couldn’t afford its own mortgage

  1. doggie daddy

    February 9, 2010 at 3:50 pm

    Boo Hoo

    To think, if they hadn’t pushed the bankruptcy laws that prevent them and all Americans in chapter 13 from renegotiating their finances, they would still be in business….TOO FUNNY.

    At least something positive came out of it. HA

    What goes around comes around – Now if we could get the idiots in the senate and WH to
    actually help those of us in bankruptcy who only have one mortgage/property like they
    helped those with 2 or 3 homes….Oh sorry, the Reagan wannabe doesn’t want to upset
    the banks or his ‘friends across the aisle’. He enjoys getting his hand bit while he destroys the
    democratic party in the process.

    Where’s your messiah now?

    HOPE Indeed.

  2. griff

    February 9, 2010 at 5:38 pm

    Actually chapter 13 is a restructuring plan. Chapter 7 is a liquidation, although businesses have a different schedule of which I’m not familiar. I believe chapter 11 would be the equivalent of chapter 7 for individuals.

    That’s not to say that bankruptcy laws aren’t screwy – I happen to be finding that out first hand right now. I thought the same thing when they changed the laws – they’re planning on a lot of bankruptcies very soon.

  3. bryan mcclellan

    February 9, 2010 at 8:28 pm

    Let’s all go broke and watch them piss down the necks of our neighbors hoping we have enough cardboard deflectors in office to save us.. Heck..