Tom Barrack, the head of Colony Capital (NYSE: CLNY), has hired several lobbyists to help assist the commercial mortgage industry. Barrack has been warning for weeks about the challenges the industry faces due to late or unpaid rents tied to the lack of economic activity.

Barrack is a long-time ally of President Donald Trump.

Tom Barrack on Lobbying

Barrack has reportedly hired lobbyists from Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck. Their task: to target “issues related to COVID-19 relief packages,” according to a lobbying disclosure report.

The report states that Barrack recruited the lobbyists on March 20, just days before the signing of the $2 trillion stimulus bill. The lobbying form was signed yesterday.

Two weeks ago, Tom Barrack warned about the stability of the commercial real estate market. In a lengthy Medium post on March 22, he predicted the fallout from coronavirus. He said it “could be exponentially worse than the economic effects of the 1987 crash, September 11th attacks, and 2008 recession, combined. The long-term impact on the economy could be catastrophic.”

Meanwhile, he suggested the Treasury Secretary could offer up to $500 billion to support programs or facilities to provide liquidity to the financial system. Tom Barrack also asked for regulatory relief and a delay in implementing new account rules in the banking system. This decision would free up billions of dollars of capital to support the commercial real estate lending markets.

Finally, you can download a full copy of Barrack’s paper here.