Moody's Eyes Long Beach ABS Classes

Three certificates from two asset-backed transactions issued by Long Beach Mortgage Co. in 2002 have been placed under review for possible downgrade by Moody's Investors Service.The affected Long Beach Mortgage Loan Trust asset-backed certificates are as follows: class M-3 of series 2002-1, and classes M4A and M4B of series 2002-2. The rating actions were attributed to credit enhancement levels that may be low given the projected losses on the underlying pools. "The transactions have taken significant losses, causing gradual erosion of the overcollateralization," Moody's said. "In addition, the severity of loss on the liquidated loans has begun to increase due to a higher concentration of manufactured housing loans." The transactions are backed primarily by first-lien adjustable- and fixed-rate subprime mortgage loans originated by Long Beach. Moody's can be found online at http://www.moodys.com.