Servicing

Moody's Investors Services has downgraded some insurance financial strength ratings of U.S. and United Kingdom entities with ties to bond insurers FGIC Corp. and Security Capital Assurance, citing concerns linked to their mortgage-related exposures. The downgraded IFSRs are those of FGIC's main operating subsidiaries, Financial Guaranty Insurance Co. and FGIC UK Ltd. (from Baa3 to B1), and SCA's subsidiaries XL Capital Assurance Inc., XL Capital Assurance (U.K.) Ltd., and XL Financial Assurance Ltd. (from A3 to B2). Moody's also downgraded the senior debt ratings of FGIC Corp. from B3 to Caa2 and the contingent capital securities ratings of Grand Central Capital Trusts I-IV from B2 to B3. In addition, the rating agency downgraded SCA Ltd.'s debt ratings for its preference shares from B3 to Ca. Moody's can be found online at http://www.moodys.com.

Freddie Mac has announced that it will continue to treat Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corp., PMI Mortgage Insurance Co., and Radian Guaranty Inc. as Type I insurers under its eligibility requirements for private mortgage insurers. The announcement followed Freddie Mac's review of the companies' business and financial remediation plans. The companies have said they are implementing the plans in an effort to regain double-A ratings from one or more rating agencies. Triad Guaranty Inc. recently reported that Freddie Mac had denied the appeal of its suspension as an approved mortgage insurer, and reported that its mortgage insurance subsidiary, Triad Guaranty Insurance Co., would cease issuing commitments for mortgage insurance as of July 15 and be transitioned into runoff.

Six classes of notes issued by Bonifacius Ltd. and Bonifacius LLC, which together constitute a collateralized debt obligation consisting partly of subprime mortgage-backed securities, have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. The downgrades were as follows: classes A-1M and A-1Q, from BBB to CC/DR4; class A-1J, from BB to C/DR6; class A-2, from B-minus to C/DR6; class A-3, from CCC to C/DR6; and class A-4, from CC to C/DR6. Fitch also assigned Distressed Recovery ratings of DR6 to classes B, C, and D. The downgrades were attributed to "significant collateral deterioration" in the portfolio, especially subprime residential MBS, alternative-A RMBS, and structured finance CDOs with exposure to subprime RMBS. Fitch can be found on the Web at http://www.fitchratings.com.

The ratings of 108 tranches from 10 payment-option adjustable-rate mortgage transactions issued by Bear Stearns have been downgraded by Moody's Investors Service. Forty-eight tranches remain on review for possible further downgrade, and 24 others were placed on review for possible downgrade. Moody's said the ratings were downgraded, in general, based on higher-than-expected rates of delinquency, foreclosure, and real estate owned in the underlying collateral relative to credit enhancement levels. The collateral consists primarily of first-lien, adjustable-rate, negatively amortizing alternative-A mortgage loans.

Moody's Investors Service has downgraded the ratings of 435 tranches from 67 payment-option adjustable-rate mortgage transactions issued by Countrywide. Of the downgraded tranches, 174 remain on review for possible further downgrade and 179 others were placed on review for possible downgrade. The ratings were downgraded, in general, based on higher-than-expected rates of delinquency, foreclosure, and real estate owned in the underlying collateral relative to credit enhancement levels, Moody's said. The collateral consists primarily of first-lien, adjustable-rate, negatively amortizing alternative-A mortgage loans.

Moody's Investors Service has announced that it is reviewing alternative-A payment-option ARM transactions as part of its wider review of residential mortgage-backed securities. Moody's said the main reason for the review is that many option adjustable-rate mortgage pools are experiencing higher-than-expected rates of delinquency, foreclosure, and real estate owned. Moody's can be found on the Web at http://www.moodys.com.

Moody's Investors Service has downgraded key ratings of two mortgage-related bond insurers in the latest of a series of negative rating actions the two companies have protested. Moody's has downgraded MBIA's insurance financial strength rating from Aaa to A2 and Ambac's IFSR from Aaa to Aa3. Several related ratings are also being affected by the move, including some transactions the companies have insured. Regarding both companies, Moody's said that, among other concerns, "uncertainty about the ultimate performance of ... mortgage-related exposures continues to adversely affect market perceptions" of them, "greatly impairing" their "financial flexibility and ability to write new insurance." In protesting recent negative rating actions by Moody's and the other two major rating agencies, MBIA and Ambac have separately assured market participants that they have taken steps to offset their mortgage-related risks and that their capitalization and claims-paying ability are sound.

Paradigm Default Services LLC, Denver, has announced the introduction of third-party servicing of real estate owned designed to serve clients and investors "awash in a sea of subprime foreclosures." The company said it is creating a special default servicing unit that will provide "cradle-to-grave, hands-on" servicing, taking loans from their initial default to reperformance or liquidation. Paradigm said it acts as a third-party facilitator between lenders and real estate brokers around the nation to ensure that the details of local asset management -- taking possession of foreclosed property, readying it for sale, marketing it, and closing the sale -- are "capably discharged without liability." The company can be found on the Web at http://www.paradigmdefaultservices.com.

RealtyTrac, an online marketplace for foreclosure properties, has announced a partnership with Bid4Homes, an online auction site specializing in distressed property, that enables RealtyTrac users to research and bid on a variety of online real estate auctions nationwide. RealtyTrac said the Bid4Homes proprietary Web-based applications and patented deposit system make it easy for real estate brokers, agents, real-estate-owned asset managers, and private sellers to list homes for auction on RealtyTrac. In addition to bank-owned properties and properties from private sellers, the Silver Spring, Md.-based Bid4Homes offers forfeited properties from the U.S. Marshals Service, seized properties from the Department of the Treasury, and tax-foreclosed properties from more than 50 counties nationwide. "Our users will now be able place online bids on properties being auctioned by Bid4Homes while never leaving the RealtyTrac website," said Rick Sharga, vice president of marketing at the Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac. The companies can be found online at http://www.realtytrac.com and http://www.bid4homes.com.

Former Bear Stearns executives Ralph Cioffi and Matthew Tannin, who managed two subprime hedge funds that collapsed last summer, have been indicted on securities fraud and insider trading in regard to the funds' management. Until recently, little was known about the hedge funds because they were organized under a Bear affiliate, Bear Stearns Asset Management, and incorporated in the Cayman Islands, where bankruptcy laws allow companies to disclose a minimum about their operations. According to the U.S. attorney's office in Brooklyn, where the indictments were handed up, the hedge funds held at least $1.4 billion in investors' money by the end of 2006. In a statement, the U.S. attorney's office said that Messrs. Cioffi and Tannin "believed that the funds were in grave condition and at risk of collapse. However, rather than alerting the Funds' investors and creditors to the bleak prospects of the funds and facilitating an orderly wind-down, the defendants made misrepresentations to stave off withdrawal of investor funds." (For the full story, see the June 23 issue of National Mortgage News.)