Servicing

Four classes of Credit Suisse First Boston Mortgage Securities Corp. commercial mortgage pass-through certificates, series 2000-FL1, have been downgraded by Moody's Investors Service.The downgrades were as follows: class F, from Ba2 to B1; class G, floating-rate, from Ba3 to B3; class H, floating-rate, from B2 to Caa1; and class J, floating-rate, from B3 to Ca. In addition, the rating agency confirmed the ratings of three other classes in the deal. As of the May 17 distribution date, the transaction's aggregate certificate balance had decreased by approximately 63.4%, to $121.7 million, due to the payoff of 27 loans and realized losses of approximately $2.2 million, Moody's said. "Adverse selection has affected the credit quality of the pool, with four of the five remaining loans in special servicing," Moody's said. "Significant losses are anticipated on the San Tomas Loan, a $78.9 million pari passu loan." That loan, plus two others, are real estate owned. Moody's can be found online at http://www.moodys.com.

The Prestwick Mortgage Group, Alexandria, Va., is brokering the sale of servicing rights on a $140 million portfolio of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans, all on properties in Michigan.The portfolio has a 5.570% weighted average note rate. The average loan balance is $105,495, and the weighted average seasoning is 25 months. The delinquency rate is 0.83%. Bids are due June 23.

Despite "record demand" for homes in Clark County, mortgage defaults may rise in the Las Vegas metropolitan area in the near future, according to Foreclosures.com, a distressed property investment advisory firm based in Fair Oaks, Calif.Foreclosures.com president Alexis McGee said the Las Vegas economy appears to be "very healthy," with 35,000 payroll jobs added in the past year and unemployment at 4.4%. But "the resulting hot housing market is pushing median prices out in front of incomes," she said. "The percentage of income going to housing costs is now at 39% and heading into dangerous territory." Foreclosures.com can be found on the Web at http://www.foreclosures.com.

The overall seasonally adjusted delinquency rate for home loans fell by 16 basis points to 4.33% in the first quarter, but new foreclosures have increased slightly, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.The MBA's quarterly delinquency survey showed that, on a seasonally adjusted basis, loan performance improved in the first quarter in all categories except new foreclosures, which inched up to 0.46% from 0.45%. "With the ongoing strength of the economy during the first quarter of 2004, delinquency rates continued their fall from post-recession peaks in the second quarter of 2003," said Doug Duncan, the MBA's chief economist and senior vice president. "An expectation of strong job growth for the rest of the year and continued strength in the housing market bodes well for lower delinquency and foreclosure rates in the upcoming quarters." The MBA survey found that 2.26% of prime loans were 30 days or more late on repayment in the first quarter, down from 2.40% in the fourth quarter. The delinquency rate for loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration fell 55 bps, to 11.68%, and the rate for loans backed by the Department of Veterans Affairs fell 62 bps, to 7.37%. The MBA said 11.19% of the subprime loans in its conventional loan category were late in the first quarter, also down from the previous quarter's level. The MBA can be found online at http://www.mortgagebankers.org.

Genworth Financial Inc., a mortgage insurer based in Richmond, Va., has priced a $1.9 billion public offering of four series of senior debt securities.The series are as follows: $500 million of three-year notes with a floating interest rate based on the three-month London interbank offered rate; $500 million of five-year notes with a 4.75% interest rate; $600 million of 10-year notes with a 5.75% interest rate; and $300 million of 30-year notes with a 6.50% interest rate. Genworth said that as a result of hedging arrangements, its effective interest rates on the series will be 3.5315% on the three-year notes, 4.478% on the five-year notes, 5.510% on the 10-year notes, and 6.349% on the 30-year notes. Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., and Lehman Brothers Inc. are the joint book-running managers of the offering.

Loan Protector Insurance Services, Solon, Ohio, has announced the formation of a new department dedicated to researching, processing, and verifying insurance documents for escrowed and impounded mortgage loans serviced by the company.Loan Protector, an outsourcer of customized mortgage insurance tracking and verification programs, said the department is headed by nine full-time escrow specialists. "The escrow department's sole focus is on servicing and processing issues related to escrowed or impounded loans," said Ron Wiser, president of Loan Protector. "As we noticed more and more escrowed loans coming in to be processed, we realized that there was a need for a separate department with a single focus." The company can be found on the Web at http://www.loanprotector.com.

The sudden resignation of its president, Alex Pollock, is forcing the Chicago Federal Home Loan Bank to initiate a search for a successor."We are very early in the process," Chicago FHLBank board chairman Allen Koranda told MortgageWire. ".... There is no one lined up to fill the position right now." Mr. Koranda said he expects that there will be "a number of very well qualified candidates." The Wall Street Journal has reported that Mark Brickell is a candidate to succeed Mr. Pollock, who is leaving at the end of June to become a resident fellow at a Washington think tank. President Bush nominated Mr. Brickell to be the director of the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, which supervises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but later withdrew his nomination. The Chicago bank plans to make a management succession announcement on June 30, and it will essentially be an interim appointment, the chairman said. Mr. Koranda is the chief executive of Mid America Bank FSB, Clarendon Hills, Ill.

Countrywide Financial Corp., Calabasas, Calif., surpassed $700 billion in mortgage servicing rights for the first time in May.At the end of May, Countrywide serviced $707 billion of home loans, up 32% from a year earlier, the company said in its monthly business report. Company president and chief operating officer Stanford Kurland said Countrywide has been adding servicing rights to its books at a pace of $600 million a day since the beginning of this year.

IndyMac Bancorp Inc., Pasadena, Calif., has priced an offering of 3.2 million shares of common stock at $31.75 per share.The gross proceeds of the offering totaled $101.6 million, IndyMac said. The company has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to buy up to 480,000 additional shares to cover any overallotments. Lehman Brothers was the sole book-running manager of the offering, and Morgan Stanley acted as co-manager. IndyMac can be found online at http://www.indymacbank.com.

Aether Systems Inc., Owings Mills, Md., has hired FBR Investment Management Inc. to assist it in assembling and managing a leveraged portfolio of mortgage-backed securities.Aether said the move is "part of an evolving strategy initially designed to increase the yield on its excess cash balances and ultimately representing what could become a more significant business activity for Aether in the future." Aether plans to invest up to $75 million of its current cash and to leverage this amount between five and eight times to assemble an initial portfolio of $450 million to $675 million in value. The company can be found online at http://www.aethersystems.com.