Servicing

Seattle-based Washington Mutual has announced that customers in Southern California who are victims of wildfires in federally declared disaster areas are eligible for various disaster relief programs.WaMu said the programs include accelerated home equity loans at reduced rates, flexible mortgage payment schedules, and penalty-free withdrawals from time deposits. The company also said it is donating $250,000 to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund and collecting additional donations for disaster aid at its branch offices. Mortgage customers in affected areas may call a special fire disaster help line at 800-472-1254. The company can be found online at http://www.wamu.com.

HanoverTrade Inc., Edison, N.J., has announced its selection as marketing agent for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (as receiver for the First National Bank of Keystone) in a $180 million trust termination sale.The assets to be liquidated consist of Keystone Home Equity Loan Trust 1996-1 and the following series of First National Bank of Keystone FHA Title I loan asset-backed certificates: series 1995-3, 1995-4, 1995-6, 1996-2, 1996-3, 1996-P1, and 1996-P2. The trust assets are being offered in three pools, ranging in size from $11 million to $123 million, the company said. The bid date is scheduled for Dec. 10. HanoverTrade is a subsidiary of Hanover Capital Mortgage Holdings Inc., a mortgage real estate investment trust. It can be found online at http://www.hanovertrade.com.

Two classes of IndyMac ABS Inc. home equity issues have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings and a third has been placed on Rating Watch Negative.The downgrades were as follows: series SPMD 2000-B group 1, class MF2, from BBB-minus to B; and series SPMD 2000-B group 1, class BF, from B-minus to CC. Class BF of series SPMD 2001-B was placed on Rating Watch Negative. In addition, class MF1 of series SPMD 2000-B group 1 was removed from Rating Watch Negative, and the ratings on 20 classes in the two deals (plus a third) were affirmed, Fitch said. The rating agency attributed the downgrades to "adverse collateral performance and the deterioration of asset quality outside of Fitch's original expectations." Fitch said the percentage of manufactured housing collateral in IndyMac SPMD 2000-B group 1 had more than doubled (to 27.7%) as of September 2003, and that "MH loans have exhibited very high historical loss severities, causing Fitch to have concerns over the available enhancement in this deal." The transaction includes mortgage insurance policies from both the lender and the borrower on about 40% of the mortgage pool, but Fitch said illiquidity in the market has slowed down the resolution of insurance claims and the liquidation of MH collateral in such deals. Fitch can be found online at http://www.fitchratings.com.

Two classes of Structured Asset Securities Corp. mortgage pass-through certificates have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings.The B-4 classes of SASCO 2001-2 and SASCO 2001-9 were downgraded from BB to B, Fitch said. In addition, the rating agency upgraded seven classes and affirmed the ratings on 23 classes from five SASCO deals. Fitch attributed the downgrades to loss levels, future loss expectations, and high delinquencies in relation to applicable credit support.

Two classes of Industry Mortgage Co.'s series 1998-1 securitization have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings.The downgrades were as follows: class M-2, from A-plus to BBB-minus; and class B, from BB-minus to B-minus. Fitch also affirmed the ratings on three other classes in the deal. The rating agency attributed the downgrades to loss levels and high delinquencies in relation to the applicable credit support. Fitch can be found online at http://www.fitchratings.com.

Fitch Ratings has announced that it will not rate loan pools containing home loans originated in Oakland, Calif., or high-cost home loan refinances originated in Los Angeles.Loans originated by entities regulated by the Office of Thrift Supervision are exempt from the prohibitions. The recent activity comes in response to municipal predatory lending laws in the two California cities, neither of which have taken effect because of lawsuits questioning their legitimacy. However, a recent court decision in favor of Oakland's law gave a push to the legislation in both places. The case is being appealed to the state Supreme Court.

In a quarterly earnings announcement, mortgage insurer PMI Group said a settlement with federal regulators to resolve loan servicing complaints at Fairbanks Capital Corp. is expected to cost shareholders $0.20 per share.PMI said that Fairbanks, which is partially owned by the mortgage insurer, has reached a proposed settlement with the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. PMI said Fairbanks' loss for the quarter was largely the result of aggregate pretax expenses of approximately $55 million in connection with the FTC/HUD proposed settlement, the related estimated costs of such a settlement, the estimated costs of potential settlements of certain class action lawsuits, and the estimated costs and fines relating to certain pending state regulatory actions. PMI said the terms of the proposed settlement of the FTC and HUD civil charges will require changes in Fairbanks' operations and the creation of a $40 million fund for the benefit of consumers allegedly harmed by Fairbanks.

Two classes of Bear Stearns Mortgage Securities Inc. mortgage pass-through certificates, series 1996-6, have been downgraded by Moody's Investors Service.Class B-4 was downgraded from Ba2 to Caa2, and class B-5 was downgraded from B2 to C, the rating agency said. In addition, three classes in the deal were upgraded. Moody's attributed the downgrades to insufficient credit enhancement to cover projected losses. Classes B-5 and B-6 are completely written-down, and class B-4 took its first writedown in August, Moody's said. The rating agency can be found online at http://www.moodys.com.

Eighty-seven classes from 13 Conseco Finance Corp. manufactured housing deals have been placed on review for possible downgrade by Moody's Investors Service.Moody's said the ratings review was prompted by high levels of cumulative losses and repossessions. The losses were triggered by various factors, including the company's bankruptcy filing, the suspension of its manufactured housing origination business, the discontinuance of its repossessed refinancing program, the suspension of its default transfer-of-equity program, and poor industry conditions, the rating agency said. "Since the suspension of its lending business, Conseco Finance has experienced lower recovery rates because it has been forced to liquidate repossessed units through wholesale channels rather than retail channels," Moody's said. The sale of Conseco Finance's MH business to CFN Investment Holdings II LLC (now Green Tree Investment Holdings II LLC) was completed in June. As part of the sale, a $150 million repossession financing fund was established by CFN and Fannie Mae, Moody's noted. "Moody's expects this additional funding to help over time, but uncertainty remains as to its impact on the performance of these deals," the rating agency said.

Countrywide Financial Corp., Calabasas, Calif., has reported record consolidated net earnings of $1.1 billion ($7.70 per share) in the third quarter, up 381% from $228.5 million ($1.74 per share) a year earlier and nearly triple its second-quarter earnings.Countrywide funded $125.9 billion of mortgage loans in the third quarter, up 98% from $63.6 billion a year earlier. Countrywide's servicing portfolio reached $606 billion at the end of September, up from $406 billion last year. "This was by far the most successful quarter in the company's history, as earnings for the three-month period exceeded 2002's full-year results," said Countrywide chairman and chief executive officer Angelo Mozilo. ".... Mortgage banking earnings rose to record levels, bolstered by strong improvement in our servicing sector, which benefited from net impairment recovery of [mortgage servicing rights] and other retained interests of $231 million before tax." Countrywide can be found online at http://www.countrywide.com.