As Bills Loom, Developers Cry Bailout

Developers worried about the health of the commercial real estate market want a piece of the bailout action, the Wall Street Journal reports. They say $530 billion in commercial mortgages will be up for refinancing in the next 3 years, but credit “simply is not available.” Without government help, trade groups predict a surge in bankruptcies and foreclosures.

Industry reps are asking to be included in a $200 billion program intended to boost the student- and car-loan markets—and some want a separate program just for them. “We’ve been urging Washington to put this as one of the top priorities,” one trade-group president said. Commercial delinquencies are already up, from 0.62% in September to 0.96% in November. (More commercial real estate stories.)