Best Practices For Post-Foreclosure Lender Environmental Liability

THE RECENT SETTLEMENT between Bank of America and the Environmental Protection Agency is one recent illustration of where lenders can go wrong in managing certain real-property loans, resulting in liability under CERCLA, RCRA and other federal and state environmental laws. In addition to the recent Bank of America case, there are a number of situations where lenders have had to pay to perform a cleanup because of the actions they took following foreclosure.

To summarize the case (which resulted in Bank of America paying the EPA more than $80,000), the bank erred in a number of ways. First, following an auction of some of the borrower’s equipment and inventory, it failed to remove tanks and other associated equipment containing hazardous wastes.

Click here to see the full article in LawWeek Colorado.