Management of REO Property (a) If title to any REO Property is acquired, the Special Servicer shall manage, conserve, protect, operate and lease such REO Property (other than any Non-Serviced Mortgaged Property) for the benefit of the Certificateholders and the related Companion Holders, and the Trustee (as holder of the Lower-Tier Regular Interests) solely for the purpose of its timely disposition and sale in a manner that does not cause such REO Property to fail to qualify as “foreclosure property” within the meaning of Section 860G(a)(8) of the Code or result in the receipt by the Trust or any Serviced Companion Noteholder of any “income from non-permitted assets” within the meaning of Section 860F(a)(2)(B) of the Code or result in an Adverse REMIC Event. Subject to the foregoing, however, the Special Servicer shall have full power and authority to do any and all things in connection therewith as are in the best interests of and for the benefit of the Certificateholders (and, in the case of each Serviced Whole Loan, the related Companion Holder(s)) and the Trustee (as holder of the Lower-Tier Regular Interests) all as a collective whole (taking into account the subordinate or pari passu nature of any Companion Loans, as applicable) (as determined by the Special Servicer in its reasonable judgment in accordance with the Servicing Standard). Notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein, REO Property with respect to a Non-Serviced Mortgage Loan is excluded for all purposes of this Section 3.15. Subject to this Section 3.15, the Special Servicer may allow the Trust or any commercial mortgage securitization that holds any Serviced Companion Loan to earn “net income from foreclosure property” within the meaning of Section 860G(d) of the Code if it determines that earning such income is in the best interests of Certificateholders and, if applicable, any related Companion Holder(s) on a net after-tax basis as compared with net leasing such REO Property or operating such REO Property on a different basis. In connection therewith, the Special Servicer shall deposit or cause to be deposited on a daily basis (and in no event later than two (2) Business Days following receipt of such properly identified and available funds) in the applicable REO Account all revenues received by it with respect to each REO Property and the related REO Loan, and shall withdraw from the REO Account, to the extent of amounts on deposit therein with respect to such REO Property, funds necessary for the proper operation, management, leasing and maintenance of such REO Property, including, without limitation:
(i) all insurance premiums due and payable in respect of such REO Property;
(ii) all real estate taxes and assessments in respect of such REO Property that may result in the imposition of a lien thereon;
(iii) any ground rents in respect of such REO Property, if applicable; and
(iv) all costs and expenses necessary to maintain and lease such REO Property. To the extent that amounts on deposit in the REO Account in respect of any REO Property are insufficient for the purposes set forth in clauses (i) through (iv) above with respect to such REO Property, the Master Servicer (subject to receiving notice from the Special Servicer in accordance with the procedures set forth elsewhere in this Agreement) shall advance from its own funds such amount as is necessary for such purposes unless (as evidenced by an Officer’s Certificate delivered to the Trustee, the Special Servicer, the Depositor, the Certificate Administrator and (in respect of any Mortgage Loan other than an Excluded Loan, and prior to the occurrence of a Consultation Termination Event) the Directing Certificateholder) such Advances would, if made, constitute Nonrecoverable Servicing Advances.
(b) Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the Special Servicer shall not:
(i) permit the Trust to enter into, renew or extend any New Lease with respect to any REO Property, if the New Lease by its terms will give rise to any income that does not constitute Rents from Real Property;
(ii) permit any amount to be received or accrued under any New Lease other than amounts that will constitute Rents from Real Property;
(iii) authorize or permit any construction on any REO Property, other than the completion of a building or other improvement thereon, and then only if more than 10% of the construction of such building or other improvement was completed before default on the related Mortgage Loan, became imminent, all within the meaning of Section 856(e)(4)(B) of the Code; or
(iv) Directly Operate, or allow any other Person, other than an Independent Contractor, to Directly Operate, any REO Property on any date more than ninety (90) days after its acquisition date; unless, in any such case, the Special Servicer has obtained an Opinion of Counsel (the cost of which shall be paid by the Master Servicer as a Servicing Advance) to the effect that such action will not cause such REO Property to fail to qualify as “foreclosure property” within the meaning of Section 860G(a)(8) of the Code at any time that it is held for the benefit of the Trust, in which case the Special Servicer may take such actions as are specified in such Opinion of Counsel.
(c) The Special Servicer shall contract with any Independent Contractor for the operation and management of any REO Property within ninety (90) days of the acquisition date thereof, provided that:
(i) the terms and conditions of any such contract may not be inconsistent with this Agreement and shall reflect an agreement reached at arm’s length;
(ii) the fees of such Independent Contractor (which shall be an expense of the Trust) shall be reasonable and customary in light of the nature and locality of the Mortgaged Property;
(iii) any such contract shall require, or shall be administered to require, that the Independent Contractor (A) pay all costs and expenses incurred in connection with the operation and management of such REO Property, including, without limitation, those listed in subsection (a) hereof, and (B) remit all related revenues collected (net of its fees and such costs and expenses) to the Special Servicer upon receipt;
(iv) none of the provisions of this Section 3.15(c) relating to any such contract or to actions taken through any such Independent Contractor shall be deemed to relieve the Special Servicer of any of its duties and obligations hereunder with respect to the operation and management of any such REO Property; and
(v) the Special Servicer shall be obligated to manage and supervise such Independent Contractor in accordance with the Servicing Standard. The Special Servicer shall be entitled to enter into any agreement with any Independent Contractor performing services for it related to its duties and obligations hereunder for indemnification of the Special Servicer by such Independent Contractor, and nothing in this Agreement shall be deemed to limit or modify such indemnification.
(d) When and as necessary, the Special Servicer shall send to the Trustee, the Certificate Administrator and the Master Servicer a statement prepared by the Special Servicer setting forth the amount of net income or net loss, as determined for federal income tax purposes, resulting from the operation and management of a trade or business on, the furnishing or rendering of a non-customary service to the tenants of, or the receipt of any other amount not constituting Rents from Real Property in respect of, any REO Property in accordance with Sections 3.15(a) and 3.15(b).