Sears under investigation over Lampert loan

Law firms are swarming around Sears Holdings regarding the short-term loan it recently secured from CEO Edward Lampert's hedge fund.

According to the law firms, Lampert's significant stake in Sears Holdings could potentially undermine the legitimacy of the loan, which is secured by 25 undisclosed Sears properties that Lampert could swap out at will.

At least two law firms have announced pending investigations into the matter, including Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC and Levi & Korsinsky, LLC.

Sears submitted an SEC filing last week for a $400 million loan from ESL Investments, though it did not reveal specifics regarding the intended use of the funds.

Bloomberg's Fitch Ratings reported that the loan is only enough to keep the company going for about three months, however. Sears would need 10 times that amount to make it to 2016.

A Sears spokesperson told HCN that the company had no comment.