Servicing

Fitch Ratings has outlined its procedure for evaluating a natural disaster's implications for U.S. commercial mortgage-backed securities, a procedure that it says "shines the spotlight" especially on the master servicer.After a disaster such as Hurricane Dennis, Fitch's CMBS Performance Analytics Group polls master servicers of Fitch-rated transactions to identify deals and loans that may be affected, according to Fitch director Britt Johnson. "Typically, master servicers rely on the Federal Emergency Management Agency's website to identify affected areas and will contact borrowers and property managers directly to determine what damage those properties may have suffered and if the natural disaster may impact the borrower's ability to pay debt service in a timely manner," the Fitch analyst said. The findings are summarized and provided to Fitch, and properties sustaining damage above a certain threshold are included on the master servicers' monthly watchlist reports, the rating agency said. "The master servicers' information helps to identify the exposure within a transaction, with special attention paid to larger loans and any concentrations of affected loans," Fitch explained. The rating agency can be found online at http://www.fitchratings.com.

JER Investors Trust Inc., a McLean, Va.-based specialty finance company that originates and acquires real estate debt securities and loans, has announced the pricing of an initial public offering of approximately 12.2 million shares of common stock at $17.75 per share.Of the total, 12 million shares are being sold by the company and 222,399 are being sold by stockholders. JER Investors said it will not receive any proceeds from the shares sold by stockholders, and that it expects gross proceeds of $213 million from the offering. The underwriters have been granted an option to buy up to about 1.8 million additional shares to cover any overallotments. The lead manager of the offering was Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co.

CB Richard Ellis Group, Los Angeles, has announced that it is expanding its commercial mortgage loan servicing business to include Europe.The company says it plans to target portfolio lenders as well as the growing European commercial mortgage-backed securities market. CBRE is a major player in commercial mortgage servicing through its subsidiary, L.J. Melody & Co. Melody's joint venture with GE Commercial Finance Real Estate, GEMSA Loan Services, serviced a commercial loan portfolio of approximately $60 billion as of Dec. 31. GEMSA serves more than 90 portfolio lenders and 150 securitized pools. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.cbre.com.

The Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corp., a government-sponsored enterprise commonly known as Farmer Mac, has announced the formation of a global debt program to help fund its growth.Farmer Mac said it may list global notes issued under the program on the New York Stock Exchange or a foreign exchange. The GSE, which was chartered to provide a secondary market for agricultural real estate and rural housing mortgage loans, can be found on the Web at http://www.chartermac.com.

CapTech Financial Group, a Lighthouse Point, Fla.-based holding company for title agencies, says it will apply for listing on the American Stock Exchange in view of its planned acquisition of Your Title Choice Inc., which has offices in Fort Lauderdale and Tampa.The deal would add $4 million in revenues to CapTech, which currently trades over the counter, thus qualifying it to pursue listing on Amex, the company said. The agencies that CapTech owns do business as National Security Title. CapTech acquired the original National Security Title, which has offices in Lighthouse Point and Tampa, in June. The company said then that the goal was to build a nationwide business of title agencies. As of midday July 14, it was trading at 32.7 cents per share, up 5.7 cents on the day.

Freddie Mac has announced that families whose homes have been damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Dennis can seek mortgage relief aimed at protecting their credit ratings and financial interests in their homes.Freddie Mac said it is encouraging its servicers to provide borrowers with relief through the company's disaster relief guidelines, and advised affected homeowners to contact their mortgage servicers. The government-sponsored enterprise said it also "strongly encourages" servicers to expedite the release of insurance proceeds to help borrowers obtain materials and labor to repair their homes; to waive the assessment of penalties or late fees; and not to report forbearance or delinquencies caused by the hurricane to credit bureaus. Freddie Mac's disaster relief policies can be found at http://www.freddiemac.com/singlefamily/relief.html.

Gladstone Commercial Corp., a real estate investment trust based in McLean, Va., has been listed on the new Russell Microcap Index.The index, which was launched July 1, consists of the stocks of the smallest 2,000 companies in the U.S. equity market. Gladstone can be found on the Web at http://www.gladstonecommercial.com.

Palm Harbor Homes Inc., Dallas, has announced that its 80%-owned subsidiary, CountryPlace Mortgage Ltd., has closed a $141 million securitization that represents the first time in this decade that a new issuer has issued manufactured housing asset-backed securities.The deal consists of ABS secured by a portfolio of chattel mortgage and land-and-home mortgage loans originated and serviced by CountryPlace. The securities were offered and sold only to "qualified institutional buyers" under Rule 144A of the Securities Act of 1933.

American Land Lease Inc., a real estate investment trust based in Clearwater, Fla., has been listed on the recently launched Russell Microcap Index.The index, which debuted on July 1, consists of the stocks of the smallest 2,000 companies in the U.S. equity market. American Land Lease, a manufactured housing REIT, can be found on the Web at http://www.americanlandlease.com.

New foreclosed residential properties crept up 1.4% in June to 23,057, according to Foreclosure.com, an online foreclosure listing service based in Boca Raton, Fla.The nationwide inventory of foreclosed residential properties totaled 75,083, up 1.4% from that of May, the company reported. "The time period from April through August is a strong buying period for properties in preforeclosure, and therefore the number of foreclosed properties tends to be at its lowest point of the year," said Brad Geisen, president and chief executive officer of Foreclosure.com. "However, when foreclosure inventory remains steady or increases in the summer, as is the case this year, its indicates that investment in preforeclosure properties is not keeping pace with the number of properties entering the foreclosure process." The company can be found online at http://www.foreclosure.com.