Conti HEL Classes Downgraded

Four classes of ContiMortgage Corp. home equity loan pass-through certificates have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings and two other classes were placed on Rating Watch Negative.In addition, the ratings on more than 50 classes were affirmed. The downgrades were as follows: class B of Conti 1997-5 and class B-1 of Conti 1998-3, pool 1, from BBB to BBB-minus; and the B classes of Conti 1999-1 and Conti 1999-3, from BBB to BB. Class B-1A of Conti 1997-2, group 2, was placed on Rating Watch Negative, and the B classes of both pools of Conti 1998-1 were removed from Rating Watch Negative. The actions were attributed to loss levels and high delinquencies relative to applicable credit support. Fitch noted that ContiMortgage's loan servicing platform was acquired by Fairbanks Capital Corp. in 2001. The rating agency can be found online at http://www.fitchratings.com.