Despite Delta, Retailers, Lenders And Landlords Say Foreclosure Fears Aren't Coming Back Retailers were running scared in the spring of 2020. The frightening spread of the coronavirus and confusion about how it was transmitted led some shoppers to wonder if they could catch the disease from handling in-store products. State and city governments responded by shuttering many nonessential retailers while worried customers stayed home and ordered goods online. Brick-and-mortar retail had already been declining for years, and for at least several months that first pandemic spring, whether it would survive in a recognizable form seemed an open question. Landlords and lenders alike worried that tenants would not be able to pay rent, leading to mass foreclosures and the permanent loss of many outlets. “Nobody knew how to value retail, because nobody knew who would be able to pay rent, or what the world was going to look like,” Flagship Capital Partners Director J.C. Clemens said. The Houston-based lender and equity investor supports neighborhood retail centers across Texas. 
But most retailers survived. As mayors and governors instituted safety protocols such as social distancing and masks, stores found they could operate, bring in revenue and start paying rent. Even though there was a big jump in delinquent retail loans, the number of troubled borrowers…  Read the full story here. | 
