Servicing

Fitch Ratings has announced the addition of performance data for select issuers to its Performance Indices for the U.S. subprime residential mortgage-backed securities sector.The subprime issuers were chosen based on 2000-2003 issuance volume, and Fitch developed a performance index for each of the issuers' RMBS transactions going back to 1998, the rating agency said. The indices are segmented by product type (fixed- and adjustable-rate mortgages) and will be updated quarterly, beginning in October. Fitch can be found online at http://www.fitchratings.com.

Fannie Mae has announced the addition of several data elements to its disclosures for mortgage-backed securities and other structured transactions.Beginning in November, investors will have access to new statistics on whole-loan real estate mortgage investment conduits, the government-sponsored enterprise said. Using PoolTalk, a tool that retrieves pool-level information on Fannie Mae securities, they will now be able to obtain weighted average coupon and weighted average maturity quartiles, as well as distributions on loan age, loan size, WAC, WAM, geographic location, origination year, amortization terms, amortization type, property type, occupancy, and loan purpose, the GSE said.

Fannie Mae has announced a new Internet-based technology that it says will enhance the company's short-term debt securities issuance and provide additional and more-timely information by replacing telephone interfaces with real-time pricing.Debt Transaction Application is an electronic trading platform that will be used to manage the daily issuance of Fannie Mae's U.S. dollar-denominated, non-interest-bearing short-term notes. DTA is designed to improve ease of use by dealers, provide more pricing and issuance information, and enable Fannie and its dealers to execute transactions faster and more efficiently, Fannie Mae said. "This Web-based technology will streamline investors' morning routine by significantly compressing the time between entering an order with their dealer and knowing the order has been confirmed for the specific amount, maturity, and price," said Linda Knight, Fannie Mae senior vice president and treasurer. DTA was created through a partnership with SunGard Financial Networks. Fannie Mae can be found online at http://www.fanniemae.com.

Fidelity Information Systems, Jacksonville, Fla., is investing millions of dollars to enhance its home equity line of credit servicing functionality.Fidelity said about half of its Mortgage Servicing Package customers currently have the HELOC functionality installed in their organizations. MSP is used to service some 30 million mortgage loans. As part of the enhancements, Fidelity said it intends to provide MSP users with credit card interfacing for HELOC loans. Fidelity said Dovenmuehle Mortgage, EMC Mortgage, Navy Federal Credit Union, and Aurora Loan Services are among the firms capitalizing on the HELOC benefits.

Freddie Mac acquired $35.19 billion in loans during September, its second-worst purchase month of the year.Meanwhile, Fannie Mae acquired $63.45 billion, its fourth-best purchase month of the year. For the year to date, Freddie Mac has purchased $383.75 billion in loans, and Fannie has bought $560.01 billion. It has been anticipated that Fannie might grow more slowly in coming months as it tries to raise additional capital to please its regulator. However, September's purchases reflect commitments entered into during the summer. Meanwhile, Freddie's retained portfolio fell slightly in September, to $660.71 billion, from $661.35 billion the month before. Fannie's portfolio increased to $904.76 billion from $895.42 in August. The two government-sponsored enterprises can be found online at http://www.freddiemac.com and http://www.fanniemae.com.

Four mezzanine and subordinate certificates of the Madison Avenue Manufactured Housing Contract Trust 2002-A securitization have been downgraded by Moody's Investors Service.The downgrades were as follows: class M-1, from Aa2 to Baa3; class M-2, from A2 to Caa1; class B-1, from Baa2 to C; and class B-2, from Ba2 to C. The senior certificates are not affected because the ratings are based on an insurance policy issued by Ambac Assurance Corp., Moody's said. The rating agency attributed the downgrades to weaker-than-expected performance by the manufactured housing loans that make up the collateral pool and the resulting erosion in credit support. The loans were originated and are being serviced by GreenPoint Credit LLC. The rating agency can be found online at http://www.moodys.com.

Performance-related upgrades exceeded performance-related downgrades by 8-to-1 in the third quarter in the U.S. residential mortgage-backed securities market, according to Standard & Poor's Ratings Services.S&P said in a recent report that there were 228 performance-related upgrades and 28 performance-related downgrades in the U.S. RMBS market during the quarter. "The catalysts for the overwhelmingly positive rating activity continue to include the effect of extraordinarily fast principal prepayments (driven by mortgage loan interest rates that neared a 45-year low), seasoning of the underlying mortgage loans, the shifting interest features of the transactions, market value appreciation, moderate delinquencies, and low losses," S&P said. The rating agency can be found on the Web at http://www.standardandpoors.com.

Class B of First Union Home Equity Loan Series 1997-1 has been downgraded from BB-minus to B by Fitch Ratings.The rating action attributed the downgrade to the poor performance of the underlying collateral in the deal. Monthly losses have generally exceeded monthly excess spread, Fitch said.

Class M-2 of Metropolitan Mortgage series 2000-A has been downgraded from B-minus to CCC by Fitch Ratings.In addition, Fitch affirmed the ratings on two other classes in the deal. The rating agency attributed the downgrade to poor collateral performance and the deterioration of asset quality beyond original expectations.

Class BV of IndyMac ABS Inc. home equity series SPMD 2000-B, group 2, has been downgraded from BB to CCC by Fitch Ratings.In addition, the rating agency affirmed three other classes in the transaction. The downgrade was attributed to poor collateral performance and the deterioration of asset quality beyond original expectations. Fitch said the portfolio performance is suffering, in part, from adverse selection, citing the increase in manufactured housing collateral from 6.7% of the pool at closing to 20.2% as of September. "To date, MH loans have exhibited very high historical loss severities, causing Fitch to have concerns regarding the adequacy of enhancement in this deal, especially with regard to class BV," the rating agency said. Manufactured housing collateral has been responsible for 42.8% of total losses to date in the transaction, Fitch reported. The rating agency can be found online at http://www.fitchratings.com.