A transactional attorney with more than two decades of experience, Victoria represents financial institutions in commercial lending and secured transactions and has developed a team with unique expertise in affordable housing and community development work.
Victoria advises clients on structuring various transactions, including traditional construction loans, private bond purchases and letter of credit issuances. She alerts clients to issues that may arise with respect to the project’s anticipated use of federal and state Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, historic tax credits, New Market Tax Credits, energy investment tax credits or brownfield tax credits, as well as regulatory agreements and use restrictions.
Victoria analyzes title and lien law issues and negotiates documentation required for closing complex real estate structures, including ground leases, master leases, restrictive covenants, condominiums, air rights agreements, construction disbursement agreements and co-op agreements to ensure her client’s lien position is secure.
She assists her construction-lending clients in their workings with various governmental agencies, municipalities and housing authorities—all with differing program requirements—in order to successfully and efficiently contribute to closing on the financing for the project.
Named the Best Lawyers® Banking and Finance Law “Lawyer of the Year” in Buffalo, 2015
Named the Best Lawyers® Banking and Finance Law “Lawyer of the Year” in Rochester, 2022
Selected for the Upstate New York Super Lawyers® list, 2012
Education & Admissions
Education
Boston College Law School, J.D., cum laude, 1995
The American University, B.A., magna cum laude, 1992
Admitted to Practice
New York
U.S. District Court, Western District of New York
U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Western District of New York
Experience
Representative Matters
Representation of a financial institution in a letter of credit enhancement of a state housing authority’s public issuance of housing revenue bonds.
Representation of a construction lender in financing the rehabilitation and adaptive reuse of a historic structure into rental housing and community space.
Representation of a construction and permanent bond purchaser in a private placement from a municipal housing authority for the new construction of a multiphased affordable housing community.
Representation of an initial funding lender in a tax exempt loan transaction originated by a state housing finance corporation and anticipated permanent take out by a Freddie Mac seller servicer
Panelist, “Law Matters: Legal and Contract Negotiations in Affordable Housing,” New York State Association for Affordable Housing (NYSAFAH) Fall Conference, September 2021
Panelist, “Affordable Housing Title Issues,” New York State Association for Affordable Housing (NYSAFAH) Spring Conference, May 2019
Activities & Professional Associations
Past Activities
Lifetime Assistance Foundation, Inc., Board Member
Lifetime Assistance, Inc., Board Member
Professional Associations
American Bar Association
Business Law Section
Forum on Affordable Housing and Community Development Law
Bar Association of Erie County
Banking Law Committee
Florida Housing Coalition
Housing Association of Nonprofit Developers (HAND)
Monroe County Bar Association
Business Law Section
Real Estate Section
New York State Bar Association
Business Law Section
Real Property Law Section
Committee on Real Estate Finance (former Upstate Co-Chair)
