For more than 30 years, Jean has devoted her legal career to representing borrowers, developers, lenders and issuers in financing transactions. Most recently, she has focused on the federal tax analysis relating to tax-exempt bonds including financing and refinancing transactions involving healthcare, educational and cultural facilities owned by 501(c)(3) organizations; single family housing revenue bonds; multifamily rental housing; and water, sewer, school and other governmentally owned facilities. Jean regularly assists issuers and 501(c)(3) and other conduit borrowers with responses to IRS audits of bond transactions and post-issuance compliance including advice regarding Schedule K to Form 990 and remedial action relating to disposition of bond-financed facilities.
Jean advises local authorities in New York State on governance, compliance with State law, contract negotiation and real property matters.
She regularly teams with the not‐for‐profit lender at a regional bank on credit enhancement or direct purchase of tax‐exempt bonds and other lending transactions with not‐ for‐profit borrowers often involving draw down bonds. Working as a team, Jean and the lender have closed on transactions that are compliant with the bank’s requirements, have reasonable legal fees, get to closing quickly and exceed the borrower’s expectations.
While at Bousquet Holstein, Jean’s transactional experience has enabled her to assist in due diligence and other aspects of mergers and acquisition transactions including the sale of a food products manufacturer and the sale of a municipal services provider operating in over 40 states.
Experience
- Counsel to a 501(c)(3) organization with respect to its construction of an educational and wellness facility for, and involvement in, redevelopment of downtown urban neighborhood with mixed income housing.
- Counsel to municipality with respect to project management and redevelopment opportunities arising from federally funded interstate highway relocation project.
- Tax counsel to state and local housing finance agencies in the issuance of tax-exempt bonds to finance qualified residential rental projects involving 4% low income housing tax credits and letters of credit, Freddie Mac TEL or credit enhancement, and cash collateral.
- Tax counsel on various tax-exempt revenue bonds issued by state and local issuers to finance and refinance facilities owned by charter schools, private secondary schools, colleges and universities.
- Tax counsel with respect to issuance of tax-exempt conduit revenue bonds to finance multi-state asset acquisition by large hospital system.
- Tax counsel on pooled tax-exempt bond programs of a state financing authority.
- Underwriter’s counsel in transaction involving the issuance of revenue bonds issued by New York State local issuers to finance higher education facilities.
- Bond counsel to City of Syracuse Industrial Development Agency in connection with issuance of School Facility Revenue Bonds (Syracuse City School District Project) to finance renovation and improvement of school facilities from 2018 through 2020.
Presentations and Publications
- Author, White Paper Aging Infrastructure and Unemployment: The Erie Canal and WPA, July 2020
- Presenter, Enhancements to Opportunity Zone Incentives, CenterStates CEO, March 2020
- Presenter, Opportunity Zones Program, CenterStates CEO, July 2019
Affiliations & Acknowledgements
- National Association of Bond Lawyers
Education
J.D., Suffolk University Law School, cum laude, 1988
B.A., Cornell University, 1980, with distinction
Admissions
New York
District of Columbia
Massachusetts
Pennsylvania
