If you needed any additional reason to worry about the state of the commercial real estate market, consider today's bipartisan statement from 79 U.S. House members to the Federal Reservey. The statement urges the Fed to take a more active role in propping up the commercial real estate market and averting an economic disaster.

According to the New York Times, the congressmen are calling for the agencies to make clear public statements encouraging lenders to continue to make credit available for performing assets, even if the value of the property has taken a hit in its value. More than $1.4 trillion in commercial mortgages will come due by 2013, and as much as 65 percent of those deals will have trouble getting refinanced because of the drop in property values, according to Deutsche Bank. By encouraging lenders to refinance the deals, the lawmakers are hoping that commercial real estate values will stabilize. But that assumes commercial real estate owners will even want to refinance their properties. In many cases, the debt payments exceed the rent roll, making it uneconomical to hold on to the property.

Commercial real estate attorney Thad Armstrong, a partner in Thompson & Knight'sHouston offices, says that while 2009 was the year of residential foreclosures, the boton is passing to commercial real estate. "As loans mature and lenders and borrowers fail to reach agreements on modifications, extensions or workouts, more large-scale, high-value retail and office developments are being faced with foreclosure, and we expect those numbers to continue to rise for the next 12 to 24 months," Armstrong says. "With the sheer number of properties that will be changing hands, there will be attractive business opportunities for investors, tenants, property managers, brokers, and title companies." Armstrong notes that lenders should engage legal counsel with particular expertise in foreclosure laws, which can vary by state. "One misstep could jeopardize the validity of an entire sale."