Ms. Houston is a partner in the Real Estate Practice Group in the Atlanta office of Seyfarth Shaw LLP. Commercial real estate transactions require responsive and agile counsel. Clients including, but not limited to, banks, life companies, developers, national retailers, special servicers, lenders, borrowers and others routinely turn to Ms. Houston for matters including commercial mortgage loan originations, securitizations, the acquisitions and dispositions of commercial real estate, hotels and multifamily real property. As a partner in one of the five largest commercial real estate practices in the United States, Ms. Houston is able to help her clients navigate complex transactions and decisions efficiently, across offices and practices.
Ms. Houston represents lenders in connection with CMBS financings, mortgage loan portfolios and master and special servicers in connection with distressed assets, remedies and workouts. In defaulted loans and workouts, Ms. Houston advises servicers and borrowers on forbearance and settlement agreements, loan modifications, restructuring, foreclosures and deed-in-lieu agreements.
Clients engaged in secured transactions and credit financings, including loan restructuring, mezzanine transactions and subordinate financings have relied on Ms. Houston for guidance. She regularly counsels lenders with multistate and multiple property portfolios, including hotels, independent and assisted living facilities, gas stations, office complexes, shopping centers, and industrial parks.
Ms. Houston is an active member of the firm’s Diversity Inclusion and Action Team. Since 2012, she has chaired the Spelman and Morehouse Internship Program, which provides students who are interested in attending law school with an opportunity to gain practical experience working at Seyfarth Shaw. Ms. Houston is a certified Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt and a member of Seyfarth’s Lawyer Development Committee. While attending law school at The University of Virginia, Ms. Houston clerked for the NAACP legal department in Houston, Texas during Hurricane Katrina, helping evacuees with landlord and tenant disputes, wrongful evictions and foreclosure issues. She also served as president of the law school’s Women of Color student group, and as a contributing editor of the Virginia Sports & Entertainment Journal. Ms. Houston also studied international banking and finance in England at The University of Nottingham School of Law.