Amelia Valenzuela

Creative, experienced commercial finance and bankruptcy counsel

Amelia Valenzuela structures, negotiates and closes commercial finance transactions. She has extensive experience with asset-based loans and other secured loans as counsel for agents, lenders and borrowers. Amelia’s work includes transactions throughout the United States involving real estate and personal property collateral.

Amelia also focuses on all aspects of distressed loan representation, including loan restructurings, bankruptcy reorganizations, creditor’s rights and other commercial workouts. She is experienced with bankruptcy proceedings under Chapters 7, 11 and 13 of the Bankruptcy Code.

Before joining Quarles, Amelia worked in-house for a national diversified real estate company with complementary businesses that included residential investments, loan assets, commercial investments, brokerage, escrow and more. Her previous in-house experience gives her a well-rounded view of her clients’ needs, allowing her to better understand and help address the challenges they face. With this in mind, she prioritizes being responsive, creative and efficient as she strives to solve their problems.

Amelia is the California chair of the Bankruptcy and Creditors’ Rights Practice Group.

• Represents banks and borrowers in complex multifacility transactions, including experience with tax exempt bond financings.
• Advises clients on real estate and construction loans, acquisition financing and ESOP loans.
• Advises lending institutions and corporate borrowers from origination through restructuring and other workout solutions.
• Enforces creditor contract rights in bankruptcy proceedings.
• Structures and directs real estate transactions for sellers, purchasers, developers, lenders and borrowers.
• Experience with PACE financing.

• Assists with structuring unique and complex transactions for borrowers and lenders, including analyzing credit risk and potential bankruptcy outcomes, and achieving solutions for transactions among parties with divergent interests.
• Representation of construction borrower in revolving line of credit negotiations ($100 million).
• Representation of national bank in revolving line of credit to telecommunications borrower ($100 million).
• Representation of institutional borrower in complex finance transactions for multifamily housing, mobile home parks and storage facilities.
• Represented national banking institutions and other commercial lenders in connection with pre-bankruptcy loan restructurings, state court litigation, receivership actions and foreclosures in connection with commercial loans.
• Represented an in-flight magazine company in a Chapter 11 proceeding.
• Represented creditors in non-dischargeability, debtor-in-possession financing, preference and fraudulent conveyance actions.
• Represented creditors in connection with the negotiation and use of cash collateral and forms of adequate protection.
• Represented creditors in stay relief proceedings in connection with diverse types of collateral.
• Represented creditors in appellate proceedings before the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel of the Ninth Circuit and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
• Represented municipalities in connection with district court litigation and bankruptcy proceedings.