Servicing

Fieldstone Investment Corp., Columbia, Md., has announced the securitization by an affiliate, Fieldstone Mortgage Investment Corp., of approximately $178 million of notes.The assets of the trust -- Fieldstone Mortgage Investment Trust, series 2006-S1 -- consist of fixed-rate mortgage loans secured by second liens on residential properties that were originated by Fieldstone Mortgage Co., the origination subsidiary of Fieldstone Investment. The transaction, structured as an on-balance-sheet financing, involved the issuance of one class of senior notes and nine classes of subordinated notes, the company said. Fieldstone can be found online at http://www.fieldstoneinvestment.com.

Moody's Investors Service is introducing a new framework for analyzing the "noncore activities" of highly rated financial guarantors.The rating agency said that, at current levels, the diversification activities of the guarantors "do not generate undue risk or present a threat to their ratings." However, Moody's also said that noncore operations have become a notable part of the business of financial guarantors, and therefore warrant more scrutiny of the financial, operational, and reputation risk these activities pose to the parent companies. "Any significant change to the guarantors' inherently narrow business model of assuming high-quality credit risk would likely alter our view of the key rating drivers," said Moody's managing director Jack Dorer. The rating agency can be found on the Web at http://www.moodys.com.

Countrywide Financial Corp., Calabasas, Calif., has announced that it plans to withdraw the listing of its common stock from NYSE Arca Inc., formerly the Pacific Exchange.Countrywide's common stock will continue to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Countrywide said the decision was intended to eliminate duplicative administrative requirements that come with dual listings as a result of the NYSE Group's recent merger with Archipelago Holdings, the parent company of NYSE Arca. The company can be found online at http://www.countrywide.com.

Franklin Credit Management Corp., a New York-based finance company that specializes in acquiring, originating, servicing, and resolving residential mortgage loans, has announced modifications to its borrowing agreements, including the elimination of all success fee liabilities.The success fee liability of $6.7 million, which would have increased, has been eliminated in consideration for $4.5 million paid to its lead bank, the company reported. A corresponding debt discount of $2.9 million was reduced to approximately $725,000 and will be amortized to expense over the remaining terms of the applicable debt, Franklin said. The company also reported that the lead lending bank has agreed to reduce, from 250 basis points to 235 bps, the interest rate margin on new term debt incurred after Nov. 14 to fund the purchase of one- to four-family residential loans secured by second mortgages. The company can be found online at http://www.franklincredit.com.

The New York Court of Appeals has ruled that the MERS mortgage is a valid method of transferring rights from the borrower to MERS, the industry-owned system for tracking ownership of mortgage loans and servicing rights.MERS reported that the court affirmed the Appellate Division's decision that county clerks must record MERS mortgages, assignments, and lien discharges as required under New York real property law. In a 7-0 decision, the court found that the model MERS mortgage (as well as the mortgage assignment) "satisfies the limited requirements of the recording statute," MERS said. The court also found that MERS lien discharges comply with New York state law. MERS, based in Vienna, Va., can be found online at http://www.mersinc.org.

Morgan Stanley has slashed 170 jobs at its newly acquired subprime unit, Saxon Mortgage, including president and chief executive Mike Sawyer, MortgageWire has learned.One source familiar with Saxon said senior managers Jeff Parkhurst (wholesale), John Trapp (underwriting), and Dick Shepherd (legal) have also left the company. A spokesman for Morgan Stanley confirmed the job cuts. The investment banker officially took control of the publicly traded Saxon Mortgage on Dec. 4. The Richmond, Va.-based firm ranks among the top 30 subprime lenders and servicers, according to the Quarterly Data Report. Kevin Rodman, a Morgan Stanley executive, will replace Mr. Sawyer. The Morgan spokesman said Saxon will focus its efforts on "wholesale lending and servicing." It recently closed Saxon's retail division and is consolidating different servicing locations into its platform in Fort Worth, Texas.

Two classes of notes issued by Capital Guardian ABS CDO I Ltd., a collateralized debt obligation partly composed of residential and commercial mortgage-backed securities, have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings.Class B was downgraded from BBB to B and assigned a Distressed Recovery rating of DR2, and class C was downgraded from CC/DR5 to C/DR6. In addition, Fitch affirmed the ratings on three other classes in the deal. The rating agency attributed the lowered ratings to "severe collateral deterioration" and significant par loss after the sale of a defaulted asset. The CDO consists of RMBS, CMBS, asset-backed securities, CDOs, and corporate debt, the rating agency said. Fitch can be found online at http://www.fitchratings.com.

Mission West Properties Inc., a real estate investment trust based in Cupertino, Calif., has announced that it plans to withdraw its common stock from listing on NYSE Arca Inc., formerly the Pacific Exchange.Mission West's common stock will continue to be listed on the American Stock Exchange. The decision was aimed at streamlining operations and eliminating duplicative administrative requirements that come with dual listings, the REIT said. Mission West, which specializes in commercial research-and-development properties, can be found online at http://www.missionwest.com.

Over the past few weeks, insiders at Countrywide Financial Corp. -- including chairman and chief executive officer Angelo Mozilo -- have been exercising millions of dollars in options.According to trading records, Mr. Mozilo exercised 70,000 options on Dec. 15, grossing almost $3 million on the deal. (He purchased the options for $9.60 apiece and then sold shares in the open market at $41.47.) On Dec. 18, Countrywide president and chief operating officer David Sambol exercised 14,000 options, grossing $375,340. Over the past six months, Countrywide insiders have sold almost 6 million shares. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.countrywide.com.

Freddie Mac has announced that it will voluntarily withdraw its common stock from listing on NYSE Arca Inc., formerly the Pacific Exchange.Freddie Mac's common stock will continue to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The decision was aimed at eliminating duplicative administrative requirements that come with dual listings as a result of the NYSE Group's recent merger with Archipelago Holdings, the parent company of NYSE Arca, Freddie Mac said. NYSE Arca will continue trading Freddie Mac common stock on an unlisted trading privilege basis. Freddie Mac can be found on the Web at http://www.freddiemac.com.