America's Dying Shopping Malls Have Billions in Debt Coming Due

``After a $144 million loan on the property came due this month, owner General Growth Properties Inc. didn't make the payment. The default by the second-biggest U.S. mall owner may be a harbinger of trouble nationwide as a wave of debt from the last decade's borrowing binge comes due for shopping centers. About $47.5 billion of loans backed by retail properties are set to mature over the next 18 months, data from Bank of America Merrill Lynch show. That's coinciding with a tighter market for commercial-mortgage backed securities, where many such properties are financed.''