Servicing

Thirty-two classes from nine issues of Ameriquest Mortgage Securities Inc. mortgage pass-through certificates have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings.In addition, Fitch affirmed the ratings on 41 classes from 10 Ameriquest transactions. The downgrades were attributed to deterioration in the relationship between credit enhancement and expected losses.

Thirty-seven more classes of mortgage- and asset-backed securities have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings as a result of changes to its subprime loss forecasting assumptions.Fitch also affirmed the ratings on classes with outstanding balances of more than $12 billion. The latest downgrades affect the following securities: 29 classes from six issues of Ameriquest Mortgage Securities mortgage pass-through certificates; six classes from two issues of Morgan Stanley mortgage pass-through certificates; and two classes from one issue of SG Mortgage Securities asset-backed certificates. The rating actions were attributed to changes to Fitch's subprime loss forecasting assumptions that "better capture the deteriorating performance of pools from 2006 and late 2005 with regard to continued poor loan performance and home price weakness." Fitch can be found online at http://www.fitchratings.com.

BearingPoint Inc., a management and technology consulting firm based in McLean, Va., has announced tools aimed at helping lenders manage growing portfolio risks before they result in loan defaults and foreclosures.BearingPoint's Credit Navigation Tools provide capabilities to help evaluate portfolio risk and manage and improve lending processes, the company said. "The industry is demanding tighter control of their loans through improvements to what has largely been an inexact process," said Christopher Formant, executive vice president of BearingPoint's Global Financial Services. "To help manage the immediate needs of banks and lenders, we can put a set of tools in place that will help deliver cost and process improvements in the context of the current crisis." The company can be found online at http://www.bearingpoint.com.

New York Mortgage Trust Inc., a New York-based real estate investment trust, has reported that trading of its common stock on the New York Stock Exchange will be suspended before the market opening on Sept. 11 and that the NYSE will take action to delist the stock.The company said it has filed an application to list its common stock on another national securities exchange. New York Mortgage Trust said the reason cited by the NYSE for the delisting action is that the company has fallen below the exchange's continued listing standard of not less than a $25 million average global market capitalization over a consecutive 30-trading-day period. The company, which invests in and manages residential adjustable-rate mortgage loans and mortgage-backed securities, can be found online at http://www.nymtrust.com.

The Federal Housing Administration on Wednesday released details of a new program called "FHASecure" that could help delinquent borrowers struggling with higher loan payments because of "resets" on their adjustable-rate mortgages.Mortgagee letter 2007-11 notes that the agency will only insure ARMs if the consumer was current on the payments prior to the rate reset. However, it will insure loan amounts that include the missed payments, provided there is enough equity in the home. Depending on the closing costs, the FHA said it will insure loans with loan-to-value ratios as high as 98.75%.

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher J. Dodd, D-Conn., has revealed that he is working on a comprehensive predatory-lending bill that would prohibit lenders from steering borrowers into subprime loans and impose a fiduciary duty on mortgage brokers.The bill also holds lenders who pay brokers a yield-spread premium responsible for the brokers' actions. "Predatory lending needs to be stopped, which is why I intend to introduce legislation that will put an end to the practices that have forced thousands of Americans into foreclosure," said Sen. Dodd, who is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination. The Dodd bill would include YSPs in the points-and-fees test for determining whether a loan is a "high-cost loan" under the Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act. It would also prohibit prepayment penalties on subprime loans and require escrow accounts. The senator's bill also addresses servicing abuses.

The delinquency rate for single-family home loans jumped by 28 basis points to 5.12% in the second quarter of this year, and the number of loans entering the foreclosure process reached a record high, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.The rate of loans entering the foreclosure process reached a record level of 0.65%, up 7 basis points from that of the previous quarter. The percentage of loans at some stage of the foreclosure process, at 1.40%, also was up substantially, though the foreclosure inventory was not a record. MBA chief economist Doug Duncan told reporters that delinquency and foreclosure rates were up substantially for subprime adjustable-rate mortgages. He also said that seven states -- Arizona, California, Florida, Indiana, Michigan, Nevada, and Ohio -- accounted for most of the deterioration in loan performance. The MBA can be found online at http://www.mortgagebankers.org.

Countrywide Financial Corp., Calabasas, Calif., said late Wednesday that it had laid off 900 workers across the United States, most of whom worked in production-related jobs.Earlier this week MortgageWire reported that the company was contemplating layoffs of between 7,000 and 10,000. Last month Countrywide, the nation's largest lender, cut 500 workers in its subprime division. The company has exited that business for now, concentrating instead on government-sponsored enterprise mortgages and loans insured by Ginnie Mae. Meanwhile, the publicly traded lender has rescheduled its annual Investor Forum from Sept. 5 and 6 to Nov. 12.

Zacks Equity Research, Chicago, announced Sept. 5 that Post Properties, an Atlanta-based multifamily real estate investment trust, had been designated its "Bear of the Day."The Bear of the Day is a stock Zacks expects to underperform the markets over the next three to six months. Zacks said the REIT is "trying to push rents, which has resulted in lost occupancy. We expect this trend to continue, or the company will be forced to lower rents. Either way, it is very likely that Post will miss estimates for the remainder of the year." Zacks can be found online at http://www.zacks.com, and Post can be found at http://www.postproperties.com.

Thornburg Mortgage Inc., Santa Fe, N.M., has announced the completion of a collateralized mortgage debt transaction collateralized by $1.44 billion of its prime hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage loans.The proceeds of the transaction, Thornburg Mortgage Securities Trust 2007-4, were used to reduce the company's borrowings under its ARM loan warehouse lines by approximately $1.37 billion, Thornburg said. The company said it recently resumed funding loans in its pipeline and that the warehouse capacity created by the transaction will enable it to increase the pace of its mortgage funding. Thornburg said it expects to increase the use of collateralized mortgage debt financings and reduce its reliance on reverse repurchase financing. The company can be found online at http://www.thornburg.com.