Fairbanks Servicer Ratings Off Watch

The servicer ratings of Fairbanks Capital Corp. have been removed from Rating Watch Negative by Fitch Ratings.Fitch also affirmed the company's servicer ratings as follows: residential primary servicer for subprime and home equity products, RPS3-minus; servicer for alternative-A product, RPS3; and special servicer, RSS3. (Fitch rates residential servicers on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being the highest rating.) Fitch said it found in recent onsite reviews of Fairbanks' servicing facilities in Utah, Florida, and Pennsylvania that its restructured management team had made many procedural improvements. The changes were aimed at correcting problems cited in an earlier Fitch review and in a November 2003 settlement with the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the rating agency said. They include system upgrades, compliance training, expanded internal audits, the formation of a Consumer Advocacy Department, and the development of a Consumer Assurance Review Department that reviews each loan before referral to foreclosure. The changes "have significantly reduced the number of customer disputes, as well as the time required to resolve these disputes," Fitch said.