Collateral Damage in Lending – Many small businesses, thwarted in efforts to get loans, are saying it takes money to get money. That’s because property and equipment assets have fallen in value, so businesses seeking loans are being asked for alternative collateral, often in the form of cash so that the loan is backed in case the borrower defaults. The catch for most business owners is that if they had money sitting in reserve they wouldn’t need a loan. WSJ

Architect Index Remains Unchanged in June – According to the American Institute of Architects, its Architectural Billings Index inched up from a score of 45.8 in May to 46 in June, which reflects continued decline in demand for design services, said a news release. But the new project inquiry index remained on the more positive side, scoring at 57.7 in June, which was up from 55.5 in May. Birmingham Business Journal

Loan-To-Value Ratio Spike Following Wave of Reappraisals – Special servicers face a daunting task in trying to resolve billions of dollars in troubled  commercial real estate loans based on new research from Trepp LLC. Of the 1,125 CMBS loans on properties that were reappraised during the first half of this year, 986 recorded loan-to-value ratios of greater than 100% largely due to falling valuations. It’s a cause for concern because the unpaid principal balance exceeded the new property appraisals by a wide margin in many cases. The average loan-to-value ratio among the 1,125 CMBS loans in the survey sample was a whopping 160%, up from 72.7% when the loans were securitized. (The 1,125 loans total $15.4 billion in volume. Retail Traffic