The A-minus issuer default ratings of Archstone-Smith Trust and Archstone-Smith Operating Trust have been placed on Rating Watch Negative by Fitch Ratings.Fitch also placed the preferred stock rating of Archstone-Smith Trust and the debt ratings of Archstone-Smith Operating Trust on Rating Watch Negative. The actions, which followed an announcement that Archstone-Smith is being acquired by a partnership sponsored by Tishman Speyer and Lehman Brothers, indicate that "Fitch expects that if the transaction closes, the surviving entity will undertake a significantly more aggressive financial profile than Archstone has traditionally utilized." Moody's Investors Service has also placed its Archstone ratings on review for possible downgrade. Fitch can be found on the Web at http://www.fitchratings.com.
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Ohio-based Liberty Home Mortgage joins several companies who started using a more modernized FICO credit score for nonconforming mortgage originations recently.
11h ago -
The CFPB has dissolved the Office of Supervision, Enforcement and Fair Lending and eliminated the job of associate director in a move that impacts how it designates nonbanks for supervision.
April 17 -
The plan that the Federal Housing Finance Agency floated calls for Freddie Mac to actively invest in some new closed-end seconds as cash-out refinancing subsides.
April 17 -
The push comes amid what one expert highlighted as lax funding efforts for two Department of Housing and Urban Development grant programs.
April 17 -
Conventional lending drove volumes higher, particularly in the purchase market, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.
April 17 -
Net charge-offs at the Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank increased by more than 80% in the first quarter compared with a year earlier. BofA executives say that the rising losses were in line with the bank's risk appetite.
April 16