Servicing

Impac Mortgage Holdings Inc., Newport Beach, Calif., has priced an offering of 2 million shares of its common stock at $17.75 per share, producing estimated net proceeds of $34 million.The proceeds are expected to be used to expand Impac's long-term investment operations and for general corporate purposes, the company said. The lead manager of the offering was JMP Securities LLC, and the co-manager was Sandler O'Neill & Partners LP. The company has granted the underwriters a 30-day 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.

Class B4 of Chase Mortgage Finance Trust mortgage pass-through certificates, series 1999-S12, has been placed on Rating Watch Negative by Fitch Ratings.Fitch also affirmed the ratings on five other classes in the securitization. The rating agency attributed the Rating Watch placement to loss levels and high delinquencies relative to the applicable credit support.

Class B of American Residential Home Equity Loan Trust, series 1998-1, has been downgraded from BBB to B and removed from Rating Watch Negative by Fitch Ratings.Fitch also affirmed the ratings on two other classes in the deal. Fitch downgraded class B because the overcollateralization for the class remains below the target, the rating agency said.

Three classes of Diversified Asset Securitization Holdings I LP have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings.The downgrades were as follows: classes A-1 and A-2, from AAA to AA-plus; and class B, from B to C. Fitch said DASH I is a collateralized debt obligation that was originated and managed by Asset Allocation & Management LLC. The portfolio backing the CDO consists of residential and commercial mortgage-backed securities and commercial and consumer asset-backed securities. Fitch said its review of the credit quality of the collateral and a cash-flow analysis indicated that the original ratings on the downgraded classes no longer reflect the current risk to noteholders. Fitch can be found online at http://www.fitchratings.com.

Principal Financial Group, Des Moines, Iowa, will write down the value of its residential servicing assets in the fourth quarter, reducing net income and operating earnings by $70 million to $110 million.According to figures compiled by National Mortgage News, the insurance giant's mortgage affiliate, Principal Residential Mortgage, is the nation's 11th-largest servicer, with a $117 billion portfolio. "We are highly confident our model reflects the economic value of the asset," said company president John Aschenbrenner. He added, however, that generally accepted accounting principles "require mortgage servicing rights to be carried at market value, and market valuations of MSRs are not precise in an environment like the current one, where there have been limited sales to use as comparables."

Delinquencies in California decreased in the third quarter and so did the percentage of loans in foreclosure, according to the California Mortgage Bankers Association.The CMBA reported that the delinquency rate for mortgage loans on one- to four-unit residential properties fell 16 basis points to 2.57% in the third quarter. The percentage of loans in which foreclosure was started rose 1 bps to 0.16% in the third quarter, while the percentage of loans in the foreclosure process fell 2 bps to 0.35%. "In the 3rd quarter, we see some leveling off of delinquencies as energy prices have subsided and low interest rates have sparked a mortgage origination and refinance wave," said Matthew M. Soto Sr., chairman of the CMBA.

Class M-2 of Metropolitan Asset Funding series 2000-A has been downgraded from BB-minus to B-minus by Fitch Ratings.In addition, class B-1 of Metropolitan Asset Funding series 2000-B was placed on Rating Watch Negative. Fitch also affirmed the ratings on seven other classes in the two deals. The negative rating actions reflect higher-than-expected loss levels on the underlying collateral, the rating agency said.

Carl Brown has been named president of LandAmerica Default Services, a subsidiary of LandAmerica Financial Group, Richmond, Va.Mr. Brown was previously executive vice president of LandAmerica Default Services. He works out of the company's office in Irvine, Calif. LandAmerica can be found online at http://www.landam.com.

Fitch Ratings has announced that it will continue to rate residential mortgage-backed securities containing loans covered by the new predatory lending law in Illinois.The effective date for sections of the state's High Risk Home Loan Act pertaining to "high-risk home loans" -- often called high-cost loans in other jurisdictions -- will be Jan. 1, Fitch said. The rating agency has stated that it will not rate RMBS deals containing loans originated in jurisdictions with laws that may result in unlimited purchaser or assignee liability. Under the Illinois law, the liability is limited, Fitch said. The rating agency can be found online at http://www.fitchratings.com.

Fannie Mae mortgage purchases are dropping like a rock, reflecting a dramatic slowdown in refinancing activity in October and November.The giant secondary-market agency reported in its latest monthly summary that loan purchases totaled $75.2 billion in November, down 25% from October's purchases and 48% from September's. Purchases of loans and mortgage-backed securities totaled $100.3 billion in October and $145.6 billion in September. Fannie's retained commitments rose slightly in November, to $13.1 billion, up from $12.3 billion in September. Retained commitments totaled $27.9 billion in September. The company also reported that it expects its mortgage portfolio to shrink in the fourth quarter. After posting declines of 5.7% in October and 7.9% in November, portfolio growth has slowed to an annual rate of 15.5%. Fannie Mae can be found online at http://www.fanniemae.com.