Ulysses Clayborn is the managing member of Clayborn & Associates, LLC, a real estate and development firm located in Kansas City, Missouri.  Mr. Clayborn, known to his friends and colleagues as “Deke”, has practiced in the real estate and transactional areas of the law for more than twenty (20) years.  During that time he has represented the interests of lenders, developers, bond issuers, municipal governments and underwriters in a variety of commercial real estate projects.  These projects have ranged from the development of commercial office buildings to a municipal golf course.  While his practice has been extensive, it has been primarily focused in the area of multifamily and residential housing development.  Deke is able to deliver the full range of legal services, including entity formation, due diligence review, preparation of loan closing documents and the conducting of loan closing. 

Deke’s first exposure to the real estate area occurred while an attorney with the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).  During his tenure there he served as a real estate closing attorney and gained experience with HUD insured housing programs.  He has experience with the Section 221(d)(3), 221(d)(4), 236 and 202/811 programs.  In addition, he possesses expertise with HOME, 312, Community Development Block Grant, project-based Section 8, voucher-based Section 8 and other HUD programs.  This background has enabled him to assist developers to gain access to the financing benefits afforded by these programs. 

In 1991, while working with Gilmore & Bell, a municipal bond firm, headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, Deke developed an expertise in the municipal finance area.  During his tenure there, he worked primarily with the firm’s tax counsel and addressed the tax consequences associated with the arbitrage, defeasance and refunding of bond issues.  He also prepared indentures, resolutions and other bond documents.  In 1994, Deke served as bond counsel on the first issuance of Neighborhood Improvement District (NID) bonds.  NID bonds are financed by special assessments paid by owners living within the district and obligate the municipal issuer to increase taxes in the event special assessments fail to generate sufficient funds to pay bondholders.  He has worked on bond transactions to finance developments ranging from sanitary sewer facilities to a municipal golf course.  Additional experience was obtained will serving as the General Counsel to the Missouri Housing Development Commission (MHDC).  There, he served as issuer’s counsel in real estate transactions financed with more than $300,000,000.00 of multifamily housing bonds and participated in transactions approximating $250,000,000.00 of single family housing bonds annually.  

Deke believes in bar service and currently serves in several capacities, including the following; Chair of the Real Estate and Probate Law Section of the National Bar Association (NBA), Member, NBA Board of Governors; Member of the Standing Committee for Lawyers Title Guaranty Funds for the American Bar Association (ABA); Member, ABA’s Property Preservation Taskforce; ABA’s Community Outreach Project.  In addition he has served as President of the Jackson County Bar Association (JCBA), Chair of the Special Committee for Minorities and Women for the Missouri Bar.  He is a frequent speaker on NBA, ABA, and JCBA programs.

Deke received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science from DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. He received his Juris Doctorate from the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law in 1981 and a Master of Laws, in taxation, from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri in 1991.