Servicing

America's Community Bankers and the Nasdaq Stock Market have launched what they are calling the "most broadly diversified" stock index for community banks.The America's Community Bankers Nasdaq Index includes 545 Nasdaq-listed community banks with a total market capitalization of approximately $175 billion. The index excludes any of the 50 largest banks based on asset size as well as banks classified as having an international or credit card specialization. The index "will bring greater visibility to community banking, which should yield greater liquidity and fairer valuations to our banks, thrifts, and holding companies," said ACB chairman William W. Zuppe. ".... Main Street has known about us for a long time. Now it's time Wall Street did, too." ACB can be found online at http://www.acbankers.org.

Richard A. Kraemer has been elected chairman of the board of Saxon Capital Inc., a residential mortgage lender and servicer based in Glen Allen, Va.Saxon said the move followed the board's acceptance of Edward G. Harshfield's resignation as chairman "as a result of increased responsibilities in other business activities." Mr. Harshfield will continue as a board member. Mr. Kraemer has been vice chairman of Saxon's board since 2001 and chairs its Audit Committee. The company can be found online at http://www.saxoncapitalinc.com

The Bond Market Association plans to expand the number of months of forward settlement dates it publishes for to-be-announced trades of agency pass-through mortgage-backed securities.The association plans to begin publishing 12 months of forward settlement dates for these securities on Jan. 1 instead of the six months that are currently published. "Growth in the overall [MBS] market and increased activity in the options market led to the need to expand the number of months for which settlement dates are posted," the association said. The settlement dates are available on the association's website at http://www.bondmarkets.com/market/setdates.shtml.

Credit Suisse First Boston has restructured the management of its mortgage-related securities units, MortgageWire has confirmed.Andy Kimura, who previously co-headed CSFB's residential mortgage-backed securities desk with Matthew Ruppel, was one of three executives named to head the company's newly integrated structured products unit. The restructuring, which took place late last week, integrates RMBS, asset-backed securities, and commercial MBS as well as the risk management, sales, and trading of those products, according to a company spokesman. In addition to Mr. Kimura, Mike Marriott and Ben Aitkenhead have been named to co-head the new unit. Mr. Marriott previously had a managerial role in CSFB's ABS and CMBS business, and Mr. Aitkenhead has a managerial role related to the sales force for the three product groups, the spokesman said. Meanwhile, Mr. Ruppel has reportedly left the company, which -- like many -- has suffered RMBS trading losses since this summer when bond market conditions changed, according to the New York Sun and The Wall Street Journal. Mr. Ruppel's departure is connected with an investigation into the losses, the WSJ said. But the losses themselves are connected with another trader, Rasekh Huq, according to the Sun and the WSJ. Neither Mr. Huq nor Mr. Ruppel could be reached for comment by MW's deadline.

The overall home loan delinquency rate fell 34 basis points to 4.28% in the third quarter, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.That's the lowest ratio of homeowners who are late making their mortgage payments in three years, the MBA said. Moreover, it was the largest one-quarter decline in the overall delinquency rate in more than a decade. MBA chief economist Doug Duncan said the decline in delinquencies reflects an economic recovery that is gaining steam. He said continued economic growth and job gains in future quarters are "likely to give support to the downward trend in delinquency rates." One dark spot in the report: the number of loans entering foreclosure increased by 6 bps, reflecting fallout from second-quarter job losses, Mr. Duncan said. The MBA can be found online at http://www.mortgagebankers.org.

Class II-B5 of Wells Fargo Asset Securities Corp. mortgage pass-through certificates, series 2000-2 pool 2, has been downgraded from C to D by Fitch Ratings.The rating agency attributed the downgrade to loss levels and the level of delinquencies in relation to the applicable credit support.

Eleven certificates from four transactions issued by Conseco Finance Home Equity Loan Trust in 2000 have been placed under review for possible downgrade by Moody's Investors Service.The affected classes were as follows: series 2000-B, classes MF-1, MF-2, BF-1, and BF-2; series 2000-D, classes B-1 and B-2; series 2000-E, classes B-1 and B-2; and series 2000-F, classes MF-2, BF-1, and BF-2. Moody's also placed under review for possible upgrade eight certificates from two Conseco transactions. The certificates are secured by 30-year fixed- and adjustable-rate home equity loans. The subordinate fixed-rate certificates were placed on review for possible downgrade because credit enhancement levels "may be low given the current projected losses on the underlying pools," Moody's said. One contributing factor is that many of the loans are second liens, which "generally experience very high loss severities," the rating agency said. Moody's can be found online at http://www.moodys.com.

Fifty-six classes from 20 Oakwood Homes manufactured housing transactions have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings.Fitch also affirmed the ratings on 40 other classes in the deals. The rating agency attributed the downgrades to the "deteriorating performance" of the manufactured housing pools. Oakwood Homes, a major manufacturer and lender in the manufactured housing industry, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Nov. 15, 2002. Oakwood received approval from the bankruptcy court to continue servicing its portfolio. "During this time the company has made changes to servicing practices which have caused volatility in performance," the rating agency said. "Losses have been high due to an increase in loss severities and default rates. Loss severities have been affected by Oakwood's sole reliance on the wholesale channel for liquidation of its repossessed homes." The rating agency can be found online at http://www.fitchratings.com.

The board of the Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corp., Washington, has declared a dividend of $0.80 per share on the corporation's 6.40% cumulative preferred stock, series A.The fourth-quarter dividend will be payable Dec. 31 to stockholders of record as of Dec. 20, Farmer Mac said. The government-sponsored enterprise can be found on the Web at http://www.farmermac.com.

The Bond Market Association has reported that a managing director at Lehman Brothers will head its mortgage- and asset-backed securities division in 2004.David N. Sherr, head of Lehman's global mortgage business, will serve as chairman of the division and Thomas Marano, senior managing director and global head of the mortgage and asset-backed securities departments at Bear, Stearns & Co., will serve as vice chairman. The association can be found on the Web at http://www.bondmarkets.com.