Exhibit 5.1

  Hogan Lovells US LLP
Columbia Square
555 Thirteenth Street NW
Washington, DC 20004
T +1 202 637 5600
F +1 202 637 5910
www.hoganlovells.com

December 22, 2023

Board of Directors

Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc.

1345 Avenue of the Americas, Suite 32A

New York, New York 10105

Ladies and Gentlemen:

We are acting as counsel to Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc., a Maryland corporation (the “Company”), in connection with the public offering by entities affiliated with Benefit Street Partners L.L.C. (collectively, the “Selling Stockholder”) of up to 2,557,644 shares of the Company’s common stock, par value $0.01 per share (“Common Stock”) currently issued and outstanding (the “Shares”), pursuant to the prospectus supplement, dated December 22, 2023 (the “Prospectus Supplement”) to the Company’s registration statement on Form S-3 (the “Registration Statement”) filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Act”) on November 12, 2021, including a base prospectus (the “Base Prospectus” and together with the Prospectus Supplement, the “Prospectus”) that forms a part thereof. This opinion letter is furnished to you at your request to enable you to fulfill the requirements of Item 601(b)(5) of Regulation S-K, 17 C.F.R. § 229.601(b)(5), in connection with the Registration Statement.

For purposes of this opinion letter, we have examined copies of such agreements, instruments and documents as we have deemed an appropriate basis on which to render the opinions hereinafter expressed. In our examination of the aforesaid documents, we have assumed the genuineness of all signatures, the legal capacity of all natural persons, the accuracy and completeness of all documents submitted to us, the authenticity of all original documents, and the conformity to authentic original documents of all documents submitted to us as copies (including pdfs). As to all matters of fact, we have relied on the representations and statements of fact made in the documents so reviewed, and we have not independently established the facts so relied on. This opinion letter is given, and all statements herein are made, in the context of the foregoing. For purposes of our opinion, we assume that, to the extent that any of the Shares were originally issued by the Company prior to April 14, 2016, such Shares were, when originally issued, duly authorized, validly issued, fully-paid and non-assessable, and were the subject of a legal opinion issued prior to the date hereof by another firm of licensed attorneys to such effect.

Hogan Lovells US LLP is a limited liability partnership registered in the state of Delaware. “Hogan Lovells” is an international legal practice that includes Hogan Lovells US LLP and Hogan Lovells International LLP, with offices in: Alicante Amsterdam Baltimore Beijing Birmingham Boston Brussels Colorado Springs Denver Dubai Dusseldorf Frankfurt Hamburg Hanoi Ho Chi Minh City Hong Kong Houston Johannesburg London Los Angeles Luxembourg Madrid Mexico City Miami Milan Minneapolis Monterrey Munich New York Northern Virginia Paris Philadelphia Rome San Francisco São Paulo Shanghai Silicon Valley Singapore Sydney Tokyo Warsaw Washington, D.C. Associated Offices: Budapest Jakarta Riyadh Shanghai FTZ Ulaanbaatar. Business Service Centers: Johannesburg Louisville. Legal Services Center: Berlin. For more information see www.hoganlovells.com

This opinion letter is based as to matters of law solely on the Maryland General Corporation Law, as amended. We express no opinion herein as to any other statutes, rules or regulations.

Based upon, subject to and limited by the foregoing, we are of the opinion that the Shares are validly issued, fully paid, and nonassessable.

This opinion letter has been prepared for use in connection with the filing by the Company of a Current Report on Form 8-K on the date hereof, which Form 8-K will be incorporated by reference into the Registration Statement and Prospectus, and speaks as of the date hereof. We assume no obligation to advise of any changes in the foregoing subsequent to the delivery of this letter.

We hereby consent to the filing of this opinion letter as Exhibit 5.1 to the above-described Form 8-K and to the reference to this firm under the caption “Legal Matters” in the Prospectus. In giving this consent, we do not thereby admit that we are an “expert” within the meaning of the Act.

Very truly yours,

/s/ HOGAN LOVELLS US LLP