Ted Hailu
Co-Founder & Managing Partner
About Paragon
What makes Paragon different
Built by people who have worked on multiple sides of the defeasance process.
We help borrowers see the transaction more clearly
Before founding Paragon, our leaders spent years working in CMBS loan servicing, mortgage banking, and legal practices focused on defeasance and structured-finance transactions.
From every angle, we saw the same problem. Borrowers were responsible for the outcome of the transaction, but they often lacked the perspective available to the servicers, attorneys, and transaction professionals shaping the process. They needed a clearer understanding of what would be required, what could affect timing and cost, and what stood between them and a successful closing.
We built Paragon to change that.
Today, Paragon is the only independent defeasance consultant recommended by two of the nation's four largest CMBS servicers.
Why Paragon
What we bring to every defeasance
The perspective that comes from seeing the transaction from multiple sides.
See our Approach
An inside view of how transactions get reviewed and approved
Our team has worked as servicer-side counsel, borrower-side counsel, defeasance consultants, and professionals within CMBS servicing organizations. We understand what different parties evaluate, the questions they ask, and what “complete” means to the teams responsible for reviewing and approving the file.
That perspective helps borrowers anticipate requirements, address issues earlier, and avoid surprises as closing approaches.
A process shaped by real transaction experience
Paragon's process was built around the issues that most often create delays, generate unnecessary back-and-forth, or surface late in a transaction. Rather than reacting to requests as they arrive, we work ahead of them so borrowers know what will be required before it becomes urgent.
Senior professionals on every deal
Borrowers work directly with experienced defeasance professionals throughout the engagement. Important decisions benefit from direct access to seasoned judgment rather than being filtered through layers of intermediaries.
Leadership
Leadership Team
Paragon's leadership team brings decades of experience in commercial real estate, capital markets, and defeasance execution. The firm has completed more than 5,000 defeasance transactions and worked alongside every major CMBS servicer and their counsel.
Kevin Kim
Vice President of Client Engagement
Beth Clemens
Chief Operating Officer
Advisory
Advisory Panel
Paragon's advisory panel helps ensure our perspective remains informed by the servicing, legal, and capital markets environments that shape defeasance transactions.
Members of the panel have spent decades representing CMBS servicers, financial institutions, and structured-finance market participants in matters involving defeasance, loan assumptions, ownership transfers, and related servicing issues. Their experience provides direct insight into how transactions are evaluated, documented and approved by servicers.
Lorena Trujillo
Vice President & General Counsel, Everstory Partners
Dimple Patel
General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer, RRA Capital