by Calculated Risk on 10/02/2010 09:21:00 PM

Buck Wargo at the Las Vegas Sun reports that "extend and pretend" for commercial real estate (CRE) might be ending: Lenders gaining speed in going after commercial foreclosures

[The] tsunami of commercial foreclosures ... never materialized as ... lenders were working with owners to lower interest rates and extend loans ... Now that philosophy is starting to change.

"[A] number of banks have been hesitant to pull the trigger on foreclosures, but we have seen recently banks are beginning to go ahead with the foreclosure process.” [said John Delikanakis, an attorney with Snell & Wilmer]
...
“Banks are beginning to realize where they are at in that loan,” [Rob Moore of Faris Lee Investments] said. “They were postponing it waiting for things to get back where they can get out of the hold, but that’s not going to happen.”
...
"The time for ‘extending and pretending’ by the banks for a variety of commercial real estate loans has ended,” [John Restrepo, principal at Restrepo Consulting Group] said. “There finally is a realization by the banks, regulators and borrowers that the market will not recover sufficiently to save many commercial projects from foreclosure.”

Las Vegas is in worse shape than most other areas, but it sounds like the lenders are now moving ahead and foreclosing on CRE properties - and that might mean the pace of CRE foreclosures will pick up nationwide.