Your CMBS loan is maturing: a plan for the last 18 months
By Brad Beattie, Director, Capital Markets, Janover Capital LLC · Published
A CMBS balloon is due in full on the maturity date. Most conduit loans let you repay at par only in the last few payments (4 to 7 in BANK5 2025-5YR14), and missing the balloon without a signed refinancing commitment or sale contract moves the loan to the special servicer at once. Start the refinance before the open period, with the payoff date in hand.
How many CMBS loans are maturing
From SEC loan filings as of October 28, 2026, these CMBS loans are scheduled to mature in the next three calendar years. Loans maturing next year carry an average coupon of 4.63%; loans securitized in the last 90 days have a median rate of 6.63%, about 200 basis points higher. A loan refinanced at today's rates needs more income to support the same balance.
| Maturing | Loans | Balance | Average coupon | Thin-coverage share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rest of 2026 | 186 | $4.0 billion | 4.54% | 17% |
| 2027 | 1,420 | $32.3 billion | 4.63% | 17% |
| 2028 | 1,720 | $41.1 billion | 5.06% | 19% |
Loans still reporting in a CMBS trust, fully defeased loans excluded. "Thin-coverage share" is the share of tested loans whose NOI (the most recent the servicer reported) is under 9% of today's balance, a rough sign that the loan may need new equity or a different lender to refinance. Method and downloads: CMBS maturity wall.
Maturing in 2027, by property type
| Property type | Loans | Balance | Average coupon | Thin-coverage share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Office | 270 | $12.5 billion | 4.48% | 26% |
| Retail | 450 | $7.3 billion | 4.69% | 14% |
| Hotel | 196 | $4.1 billion | 4.95% | 17% |
| Mixed use | 101 | $3.7 billion | 4.63% | 28% |
| Multifamily | 101 | $1.9 billion | 4.65% | 20% |
| Self-storage | 111 | $1.1 billion | 4.55% | 7% |
The dates that matter, in order
- Your open date. Find it in the loan agreement or in your trust's prospectus, Annex A-1, where the schedule reads like L(25),D(28),O(7): the last number is the open period in payments. Before it, a payoff costs defeasance or yield maintenance. How to read it.
- 90 days before maturity: the watchlist. A pending balloon within 90 days is a credit item on the servicer watchlist until the loan is extended or paid off (CREFC Portfolio Review Guidelines, code 5A). The watchlist.
- Payoff notice. Give the notice the agreement asks for; one October 2025 agreement requires at least 30 days for an open-period payoff, in whole.
- Maturity date. The balloon is due. If it is not paid and you have not delivered a written, fully executed refinancing commitment or sale contract providing for closing within 120 days, that is a Servicing Transfer Event and the loan goes to the special servicer (PSA 1.01).
- Up to 120 days after maturity. With that document delivered by maturity, the master servicer may grant an extension or forbearance of up to 120 days to close (PSA 3.18(m)(ix)). Close inside 120 days and, in BANK5 2025-5YR14, the special servicer takes no liquidation or workout fee on the balloon. The 120-day rule.
- After that, an appraisal is ordered and the loan's options narrow to a modification, an extension, a discounted payoff, a sale or foreclosure. See CMBS loan extensions and special servicing.
A plan, working backward from maturity
Lenders, markets and properties differ, so treat this as a sequence rather than a schedule.
- Size the new loan on today's numbers. Lenders size on trailing net operating income, debt yield, DSCR at today's rate, and value. Run the CMBS refinance calculator to see whether the property supports the current balance, and compare current CMBS loan rates.
- If there is a gap, decide how to fill it while the loan is current: equity, a partner, a supplemental piece from a new lender, or a sale. A cash trap or watchlist flag makes this more urgent, not less. See cash management.
- Choose the lender type. CMBS, bank, life company, agency or bridge each size and price differently: CMBS refinance guide.
- Assemble the file early: trailing twelve months and year-to-date operating statements, a current rent roll, leases for major tenants, capital spending history, the existing loan documents, the servicer's payoff and reserve balances, and the sponsor's financial statement and schedule of real estate owned.
- Get a signed commitment before maturity. It is the document that keeps the loan with the master servicer for up to 120 days if closing slips.
- Collect your reserves. Ask the servicer how reserve and escrow balances are applied or returned at payoff, and put the refund in the closing statement. CMBS reserves.
If the loan cannot be refinanced at maturity
Talk to the master servicer before the date, not after it. A short extension tied to a signed commitment is a master servicer decision; anything longer, or any change to the loan's terms, is a Major Decision that needs the special servicer and the Directing Certificateholder. What a servicer is allowed to change is limited by REMIC tax rules: what a CMBS special servicer can modify. The servicer clock shows every contractual event after a missed balloon.
Sources: Pooling and Servicing Agreement, dated as of April 1, 2025 (BANK5 2025-5YR14), 1.01 "Servicing Transfer Event", 3.18(m)(ix), 6.08(a)(ii); BANK5 2025-5YR14 prospectus, p. 225 (open periods); 1010 Pacific Street loan agreement, October 1, 2025, Section 2.7(a); CREFC Investor Reporting Package v8.4, Portfolio Review Guidelines, p. 67; loan counts and coupons from SEC Schedule AL filings via cmbs.news, as of October 28, 2026. This page is not legal advice.
Questions people ask
When should I start refinancing a maturing CMBS loan?
Before the open period starts, not at maturity. Most conduit loans can be prepaid at par only for the last few payments (4 to 7 in BANK5 2025-5YR14), and a missed balloon with no signed refinancing commitment or sale contract sends the loan to the special servicer at once. A new loan has to be sized, underwritten, documented and closed inside that window.
Can the master servicer extend my maturity?
Only briefly. In BANK5 2025-5YR14, the master servicer can grant an extension or forbearance of up to 120 days after maturity if you delivered, by the maturity date, a document showing a refinancing or sale closing within 120 days. Anything longer is a Major Decision for the special servicer and the Directing Certificateholder.
What happens if I cannot refinance the full balance?
Then the gap has to come from somewhere: new equity, a preferred equity or mezzanine partner, a sale, or a negotiated outcome with the special servicer such as an extension, a paydown or a discounted payoff. Each of those takes longer than a plain refinance, so the earlier you know the gap, the more options you keep.
Does an approaching maturity put my loan on the watchlist?
Yes. Under the CREFC Portfolio Review Guidelines, a pending balloon maturity within 90 days is a credit item on the servicer watchlist, and it stays there until the loan is extended or paid off.
Can I pay off a CMBS loan before the open period to refinance early?
Usually, at a cost: by defeasance or yield maintenance, whichever your loan allows. When the open period is close, the premium is usually small compared with the risk of refinancing into a weaker market, but price it before you decide.
Maturity in the next 18 months?
Send the loan to Janover Capital LLC, a commercial mortgage advisor (not a lender), to size the refinance before the open period starts.