Negotiating Loan Covenants In Commercial Loan Documents - Nervous Lender Clauses, Etc.

[Bryan Hancock]

We're in the process of negotiating more favorable terms on large guidance lines of credit for spec projects in Austin, TX.  I was hoping some of our experienced lenders or developers could share their wisdom with how negotiations or selections of lender partners have gone in the past.  We're fortunate to have more lenders willing to make us loans than we have projects to finance.  This presents us with the ability to negotiate with those willing to modify their documents or select lending partners if some offer better covenants than others.  

One of the items I am the most interested in negotiating is the so-called "nervous lender clause" so that I'm not technically in default immediately if the lender gets a hair up their rear-end. There is also a concern that the smaller lenders that are more willing to negotiate these types of clauses have higher FDIC risk and thus they present different types of risks in the event we have another mortgage crisis or similar event risk.

Other items I have investigated include bad boy carve outs, guarantees (limited or full), grace and cure periods, cross-default, dragnet clauses, etc.  If you were looking to negotiate things like this how would you go about finding resources (attorneys, experienced developers, former bankers, etc.) that may be able to assist with these negotiations when selecting the BEST lending partners?  

Any advice or general commentary you can provide is appreciated as well.