Mortgage Investor Files Bankruptcy in Latest Property Firm Crash

JER Investors Trust Inc., a mortgage REIT, filed for bankruptcy in the latest sign of distress in commercial real estate.

The real estate investment trust — which counts private equity firm C-III Capital Partners among its top shareholders — owes more than $100 million to creditors, but has less than $50 million in assets, according to a Chapter 11 petition filed in Wilmington, Delaware Friday. Companies use Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code to temporarily halt most debt payments while they try to work out a plan to stay in business.

JER Investors manages a portfolio of mortgage ...