José A. (Josean) Díaz-Brugueras

José A. (Josean) Díaz-Brugueras is a Capital Member with the Corporate, Commercial Real Estate and Notarial Practice and Bankruptcy & Creditors’ Rights Practice Groups. Prior to joining Ferraiuoli, Josean was an Assistant Vice President at Banco Popular De Puerto Rico’s Construction Loans Division where he managed over $600MM in mostly distressed residential and commercial real estate assets. As part of his role at Banco Popular, he managed loan originations, complex financial restructurings, large bankruptcy cases, lender liability and foreclosure litigation, as well as the negotiation and closing of transactions involving the sale of loan portfolios, individual loans and repossessed assets. He also managed corporate, legal and administrative matters of several limited liability companies which were created as subsidiaries of Banco Popular for the ownership, management and eventual disposition of repossessed commercial and residential properties.

Josean’s practice is concentrated in the areas of commercial law and creditors’ rights, including commercial lending, secured transactions, workout negotiations, distressed debt, debtor-in-possession financing, settlements and transactions within bankruptcy, construction loans, commercial real estate financing, private equity and corporate credit for both Puerto Rico and U.S. clients. Recently, Josean has been very active advising financial institutions in workouts and restructurings of commercial loans, as well as counseling both buyers and sellers in the purchase and sale of portfolios of commercial loans and REO’s. Furthermore, Josean is constantly involved in complex transactions within bankruptcy, involving debtor reorganization and/or the transfer of real estate and operating businesses through §363 sales or within bankruptcy reorganization plans.

Get to know Josean

Why do your clients come to you?

Most of my clients are financial institutions, private equity firms, real estate developers and individuals who are involved in real estate transactions, commercial lending, financial restructurings, lender liability and foreclosure litigation, and distressed debt and workout negotiations. My clients come to me because of my ability to provide practical advice based on my experience as a former banker and as a counsel to multiple financial institutions and private equity firms who are active participants in the distressed debt and commercial lending market. My clients also appreciate the combination of responsiveness and efficiency with the legal knowledge and practical experience with regulations, banking policies, and operational matters.

What do you find most rewarding?

The most rewarding thing for me is to close a transaction. No matter how long it takes to close, it is always satisfying when the documents get signed and all the parties are able to move forward with their ultimate goals.

Looking forward, what you see?

Puerto Rico should continue to see more distressed debt transactions moving forward now that three of the loss share agreements with the FDIC are coming to an end (BPPR, Scotiabank and Oriental). There will be a new trend of financial institutions financing the discounted payoffs or mark-to-market of commercial real estate loans from other financial institutions or private equity firms. New inventory in the residential real estate market will begin to dry up, developers will once again find appetite to develop new projects and financial institutions will be willing to finance those projects. I am also looking forward to a reduction in the non-performing assets in the bank’s balance sheets, so that some of the resources currently focused on collections can be deployed to the lending arms of the banks.

Representative Cases or Transactions

  • Represented Lone Star Funds in the acquisition of a portfolio of commercial loans from Firstbank Puerto Rico with an unpaid principal balance of close to $400MM
  • Represented Puerto Rico’s largest window manufacturer in the acquisition of its main competitor through a complex bankruptcy transaction involving tax authorities, local government, two financial institutions, over one hundred employees, and other stakeholders.

Publications

  • “Lender Liability in Construction and Real Estate Financing,” published in Legal Handbook for Architects, Engineers and Contractors: Issues in Construction and Technology 2011/2012, Volume 28; Edited by Albert H. Dib, 2012 Thomson Reuters.

Get to know Josean

Why do your clients come to you?

Most of my clients are financial institutions, private equity firms, real estate developers and individuals who are involved in real estate transactions, commercial lending, financial restructurings, lender liability and foreclosure litigation, and distressed debt and workout negotiations. My clients come to me because of my ability to provide practical advice based on my experience as a former banker and as a counsel to multiple financial institutions and private equity firms who are active participants in the distressed debt and commercial lending market. My clients also appreciate the combination of responsiveness and efficiency with the legal knowledge and practical experience with regulations, banking policies, and operational matters.

What do you find most rewarding?

The most rewarding thing for me is to close a transaction. No matter how long it takes to close, it is always satisfying when the documents get signed and all the parties are able to move forward with their ultimate goals.

Looking forward, what you see?

Puerto Rico should continue to see more distressed debt transactions moving forward now that three of the loss share agreements with the FDIC are coming to an end (BPPR, Scotiabank and Oriental). There will be a new trend of financial institutions financing the discounted payoffs or mark-to-market of commercial real estate loans from other financial institutions or private equity firms. New inventory in the residential real estate market will begin to dry up, developers will once again find appetite to develop new projects and financial institutions will be willing to finance those projects. I am also looking forward to a reduction in the non-performing assets in the bank’s balance sheets, so that some of the resources currently focused on collections can be deployed to the lending arms of the banks.

Representative Cases or Transactions

  • Represented Lone Star Funds in the acquisition of a portfolio of commercial loans from Firstbank Puerto Rico with an unpaid principal balance of close to $400MM
  • Represented Puerto Rico’s largest window manufacturer in the acquisition of its main competitor through a complex bankruptcy transaction involving tax authorities, local government, two financial institutions, over one hundred employees, and other stakeholders.

Publications

  • “Lender Liability in Construction and Real Estate Financing,” published in Legal Handbook for Architects, Engineers and Contractors: Issues in Construction and Technology 2011/2012, Volume 28; Edited by Albert H. Dib, 2012 Thomson Reuters.