Sub line borrowing: Slow ‘no’s and other hazards

Borrower’s guide: “Playing the game” is how one lender described trying to delay having to decline a borrower for a new line for as long as possible, playing for time to try to overcome internal challenges. Some borrowers have been seeing delays in responses from banks, sometimes waiting weeks only to get declined. “Could we do the delivery better on some deals? Of course. I think everyone could say that,” that banker said in my “Unofficial borrower’s guide to an unmappable lending landscape.”

In this article, I look at the kinds of deals seeing difficulties and some of the challenges borrowers have faced: delayed refusals on new lines and refusals to requests for uncommitted extensions among them. I also look at what borrowers should be prepared to do, should they move their business to a new lender.

Email prepared by Graham Bippart