Equifax today announced a new Commercial Real Estate (CRE) Tenant Risk Assessment product suite designed to help asset managers and bankers better build, manage and maintain CRE portfolios. Built on Equifax commercial credit data, the suite is designed to provide a more complete financial picture of a building’s business tenants for a better understanding of each property’s potential risk and overall performance in a time of economic uncertainty.
“COVID-19 has had a dramatic impact on the Commercial Real Estate industry, with tenant payment behavior and demand for space heavily influenced by social distancing, unemployment, and business stress,” said William Phelan, General Manager of the Equifax United States Information Solutions (USIS) Commercial business. “Whether you’re a banker overseeing a CRE portfolio, an asset manager, or a property manager, it’s become increasingly important to understand the current financial health of buildings and business tenants to prevent losses. The Equifax Commercial Real Estate Tenant Risk Assessment product suite helps you understand which tenants were on sound financial footing before the coronavirus, and better predicts how they will weather the storm.”
According to the National Association of Realtors Research Group’s January 2021 Commercial Real Estate Trends and Outlook, 59% of CRE executives surveyed reported an increase in missed, late, or partial rental payments for office, retail, and industrial space. Staying up-to-date on the financial situations of commercial tenants is a challenge for most CRE owners, and rent delays and tenant losses can be a costly proposition.
The Equifax Commercial Real Estate Tenant Risk Assessment product suite includes a Tenant Risk Assessment Report™ and a cloud-based application on the Equifax Ignite Marketplace. The report and app can be used to evaluate a commercial tenant portfolio for financial stability and flag tenants with increased risk profiles. The tools can also be used to monitor business tenants on a monthly basis to identify changes in payment patterns and analyze tenants’ ability to continue on lease. The suite is supported by an enhancement to the Commercial Credit History Report. The Commercial Credit History Report can include CRE market statistics data for an even more comprehensive view of potential business tenants during the credit decisioning process.
“Smarter insights drive smarter actions,” continued Phelan. “With this new offering, we’re putting data insights that only Equifax can provide at the fingertips of commercial bankers, asset managers, and property owners. We are going beyond building statistics and empowering CRE leaders to identify new business tenants, negotiate lease improvements for tenant retention, and identify potential tenant losses before they occur.”
