alt Hacker NewsRight. . . but isn't that just obviously stupid? If I say the rent is $3k a month but you get all 12 months free, why would anyone be fooled by that? Why would you base it on some hypothetical rent rather than the amount of actual money that the property takes in?
The bank knows but they maintain the fiction that they don't because their books collapse too if they count those. Banks make money from loans.
Don't forget this is typically a short term things. When the economy improves the building will be rented again. So they need the books to look good today to get through.