Servicing

Impac Mortgage Holdings Inc., Newport Beach, Calif., has priced public offerings of 3.75 million shares of its common stock at $23 per share and 4.0 million shares of preferred stock at $25 per share.The common stock offering produced estimated net proceeds of $81.9 million, and the offering of 9.125% series C cumulative redeemable preferred stock produced an estimated $96.9 million, Impac said. The common stock offering was led by UBS Investment Bank, with Bear, Stearns & Co. as joint lead manager. The preferred stock offering was managed by Bear Stearns, with Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. as co-manager. The company has granted the underwriters of the common stock an option to buy up to 562,500 additional shares, and the underwriters of the preferred stock an option to buy up to 300,000 additional shares, to cover any overallotments. Impac, a mortgage real estate investment trust, can be found online at http://www.impaccompanies.com.

Two classes of IndyMac ABS Inc. home equity issues have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings.The downgrades were as follows: class BF of series SPMD 2000-B group 1, from CC to C; and class BF of series SPMD 2001-B, from BB to CCC. In addition, the ratings on 43 classes in eight IndyMac ABS deals were affirmed. The rating agency attributed the downgrades to "poor collateral performance and the deterioration of asset quality beyond original expectations." Fitch said the percentage of manufactured housing collateral in IndyMac SPMD 2000-B group 1 had tripled (to 37.4%) as of October 2004, and that MH loans "have exhibited very high historical loss severities, causing Fitch to have concerns regarding the adequacy of enhancement in this deal." For series SPMD 2001-B, the percentage of MH collateral had grown from 2.3% at closing to 9.5% as of October. Fitch can be found online at http://www.fitchratings.com.

The California commercial loan delinquency ratio was below one-half of 1% in the third quarter for the 24th consecutive quarter, according to the California Mortgage Bankers Association.The Sept. 30 Quarterly Delinquency Survey found that 99.8% of the California commercial real estate loans serviced by 18 mortgage banking firms were either current or delinquent by only one payment. This represents a delinquency ratio of 0.24%, compared with 0.33% three months ago and 0.24% a year ago. Sixteen of the 18 companies reported no loans more than 30 days delinquent. Of the $60.7 billion of loans being serviced by the 18 mortgage bankers, 15 loans totaling $143.1 million were two or more payments past due. The 15 delinquent loans represent 0.15% of the 9,884 commercial real estate loans included in the survey. For survey purposes, a loan is considered delinquent if it is two or more payments past due, although loans in foreclosure are included regardless of the number of payments past due. The CMBA, based in Sacramento, can be found online at http://www.cmba.com.

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle saw its third-quarter earnings plunge by 53% to $16.8 million due to hedging mistakes and a poor performance in two key products.The FHLBank admitted in a statement that it did not "efficiently manage the funding and hedging of its investments." These investments include mortgage-backed securities and its mortgage purchase program. The MPP, which competes against Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, was hurt by decreasing volumes and the bank's decision to limit purchases from larger member banks while it enhances what it calls its "financial infrastructure." On Monday, the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago, which operates the bank system's Mortgage Partnership Finance program, said it will delay reporting third-quarter earnings because of concerns over accounting for derivatives.

Class M-2 of American Residential HELT series 1998-1 has been downgraded from A to A-minus and removed from Rating Watch Negative by Fitch Ratings.Fitch also affirmed the rating on one other class in the deal. The downgrade stemmed from concerns about the adequacy of credit enhancement in the light of declining collateral performance, the rating agency said.

Three classes of notes issued by Capital Guardian ABS CDO I Ltd., a collateralized debt obligation partly composed of residential and commercial mortgage-backed securities, have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings.The downgrades were as follows: class B, from AA-minus to BBB; class C, from BBB-plus to B-plus; and $15 million of preference shares, from BB-minus to CCC. In addition, Fitch affirmed the ratings on three other classes in the deal. The rating agency attributed the lowered ratings to deterioration in credit quality due to the downgrading of several assets, including assets with exposure to manufactured housing and aircraft leases. The CDO consists of RMBS, CMBS, asset-backed securities, CDOs, and corporate debt, the rating agency said. Fitch can be found online at http://www.fitchratings.com.

Ameriquest Mortgage Co. and Argent Mortgage, both subsidiaries of Ameriquest Capital Corp., have announced plans to expand their mortgage servicing operations in a move that will create 2,100 new jobs in the Schaumburg, Ill., area.Ameriquest said it will be subleasing an 11-story, 300,000-square-foot office building for the expansion and that the 2,100 new jobs will come online incrementally over the next three years. Ameriquest Mortgage, headquartered in Orange, Calif., is a retail lender. Argent Mortgage, based in Irvine, Calif., is a wholesale lender that works with independent mortgage brokers.

Four classes of notes issued by MKP CBO I Ltd., a collateralized debt obligation partly composed of residential and commercial mortgage-backed securities, have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings.The downgrades were as follows: class A-1L, from AA-minus to A-minus; class A-2L, from BBB-minus to BB; class B-1A, from B-plus to B-minus; and class B-1L, from B-plus to B-minus. The four classes remain on Rating Watch Negative. Fitch attributed the downgrades to declining overcollateralization ratios and the "continued negative impact" of the CDO's interest rate hedge. The CDO consists of RMBS, CMBS, and commercial and consumer asset-backed securities, the rating agency said. Fitch can be found online at http://www.fitchratings.com.

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago, which operates the bank system's Mortgage Partnership Finance program, said Monday that it will delay reporting third-quarter earnings because of concerns about derivative accounting.A spokesman for the bank told MortgageWire that the FHLBank hopes to release third-quarter results sometime "during the next couple of weeks." The FHLBank issued a statement saying an outside consulting firm -- which it would not name -- has advised the bank to change the way it accounts for certain derivatives under FAS 133. The FHLBank uses derivatives to hedge its MPF assets as well as its advances. "The most significant change affecting the bank's financial statements involves the method of accounting for certain payer or receiver swaptions" under FAS 133, it said. The bank now plans to directly account for changes in the value of the swaptions as either income or expense.

Fannie Mae has announced that it will not issue Benchmark Notes of any kind in November.The company had announced recently that it would not issue Callable Benchmark Notes this month. Fannie Mae said, however, that it intends to issue Benchmark securities for the remainder of the year in accordance with its previously announced calendar. The government-sponsored enterprise can be found on the Web at http://www.fanniemae.com.