Servicing

Three classes from Equity One ABS Inc. mortgage pass-through certificates issued in 2002 have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings.The downgrades were as follows: series 2002-3, class B-1, from BBB-plus to BB, and class B-2, from BB to B; and series 2002-4, class B, from BBB to BBB-minus. Fitch also affirmed the ratings on six classes in the two Equity One subprime transactions. The rating agency attributed the downgrades to a deterioration in the relationship between credit enhancement and expected losses. Fitch can be found online at http://www.fitchratings.com.

Zacks Equity Research, Chicago, announced Dec. 1 that Liberty Property Trust, Malvern, Pa., had been designated its "Bear of the Day," a stock expected to underperform the markets over the next three to six months.Zacks said the commercial real estate investment trust had a disappointing third quarter, reporting funds from operations that were $0.04 per share lower than Zacks' expectations. "Liberty is focusing on development which could prove beneficial down the road, although most projects will not add to earnings in the near term," Zacks said. "We rate the company a sell due to our expectation of little to zero FFO growth in 2007." Zacks can be found online at http://www.zacks.com, and Liberty Property Trust can be found at http://www.libertyproperty.com.

Two certificates from Structured Asset Securities Corp.'s series 2002-BC1 securitization have been downgraded by Moody's Investors Service.Class M3 was downgraded from Ba1 to B2, and class B was downgraded from B1 to Ca. Moody's attributed the downgrades to credit enhancement levels that are deemed to be low given the projected losses on the underlying pools. The transaction is backed primarily by first-lien subprime mortgage loans. The rating agency can be found online at http://www.moodys.com.

Umbrella Bancorp Inc., Chicago, has announced that Umbrella Mortgage Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary primarily focused on the origination of reverse mortgages, has opened its doors.The company is a full-service mortgage brokerage operation that will initially originate mortgage loans in Illinois and Colorado, the parent company reported. It will offer reverse mortgage products offered by the Federal Housing Administration, Fannie Mae, and other third-party investors, as well as a full range of traditional mortgage products, Umbrella Bancorp said. Many of its employees are former members of the retail and wholesale lending departments of Flower Bank FSB, which Umbrella Bancorp sold to American Home Mortgage Investment Corp. earlier this year. Umbrella Mortgage can be found on the Web at http://www.umbrellareverse.com.

ACC Capital Holdings, Orange, Calif., is actively entertaining offers for its entire mortgage franchise, which includes Ameriquest Mortgage and its wholesale arm, Argent, investment bankers and other officials have confirmed to MortgageWire.As of MW's deadline, an ACC spokesman had declined to comment. Matthew Howlett, an analyst with Fox-Pitt Kelton, said he has been hearing reports that Ameriquest, Argent, and the servicing operation are all up for grabs. According to the Quarterly Data Report, Ameriquest services $113 billion in loans, ranking second among all subprime firms. ACC is a privately held company controlled by California businessman Roland Arnall, who is now serving as U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands. Estimates vary, but bankers say the entire mortgage operation could fetch close to $2 billion. (For the full story, see the Dec. 4 issue of National Mortgage News.)

Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. has launched an index series for agency collateralized mortgage obligations designed to track the performance of the asset class."The Merrill Lynch U.S. Agency CMO Index is the first to tackle this large, complex asset class," said Phil Galdi, managing director of the firm's global bond index and analytics group. The index series' data sets of returns and risk characteristics are available back to December 1996.

The Hispanic National Mortgage Association has enlisted Deutsche Bank as a joint venture partner in a new correspondent bank that will purchase low-downpayment mortgages made to Hispanics and other immigrant borrowers.Based in San Diego, the new HNMA Funding is jointly owned and capitalized by HNMA and Deutsche Bank. The company said its programs will enable lenders to offer interest rates "significantly lower" than the subprime rates many Hispanic borrowers have historically been offered. "By creating a new liquidity vehicle for mainstream lenders, we are addressing one of the major impediments to Hispanic homeownership and demonstrating our commitment to this market and our willingness to accept and retain credit risk," said HNMA Funding chief executive Leonardo Simpser. HNMA recently unveiled a new automated underwriting system that is specifically calibrated to approve loans to Hispanic and immigrant borrowers with little or no traditional credit history, as well as applicants who don't have a Social Security number -- but do have a Taxpayer Identification Number.

GMAC Mortgage LLC, Horsham, Pa., has been chosen to handle the interim subservicing for Loan Center of California Inc., a wholesale mortgage company specializing in nontraditional mortgage products.LCC, a privately held mortgage bank based in Suisun City, Calif., focuses on payment-option adjustable-rate mortgages linked to the monthly Treasury average or the London interbank offered rate, as well as on first- and second-lien alternative-A home loans originated in California. Ed Blanch, president and chief executive officer of LCC, said the company picked GMAC Mortgage for its "unique expertise in servicing alternative loan products." GMAC can be found online at http://www.gmacsolutions.com, and LCC can be found at http://www.rateprice.com.

Three classes of MASTR Second Lien Trust 2005-1 mortgage pass-through certificates have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings.The downgrades were as follows: class M-8, from BB to B-plus; class M-9, from BB to B; and class M-10, from B to C. Class M-10 was also assigned a Distressed Recovery rating of DR5. In addition, the ratings on eight other classes in the transaction were affirmed. The downgrades were attributed to the failure of overcollateralization to reach the target level, and to the fact that monthly losses have exceeded excess spread in four of the last five months, Fitch said. The rating agency can be found online at http://www.fitchratings.com.

The market composite index, an overall measure of mortgage applications, declined 3.7% to 623.6 in the week ending Nov. 17 from 647.5 one week earlier on a seasonally adjusted basis.The seasonally adjusted refinancing index decreased by 4.3% from the previous week and the home purchase component of the index fell 2.8%, even as the average contract interest rate for 30-year mortgages decreased to 6.13% from 6.15% a week earlier. Still, the refinancing share of mortgage activity increased to 48.6% of applications, up from 48.0% the previous week, the Mortgage Bankers Association said. That was the highest refinancing share since February of 2005. The MBA can be found on the Web at http://www.mortgagebankers.org.