Moody's Eyes Metropolitan Classes

Thirteen classes from four subprime mortgage transactions issued by Metropolitan Asset Funding Inc. and Metropolitan Mortgage Funding Inc. have been placed on review for possible downgrade by Moody's Investors Service.The classes placed on review for possible downgrade were as follows: series 1998-A, classes B-1 and B-2; series 1998-B, classes M-2, B-1, and B-2; series 1999-A, classes M-2, B-1, and B-2; and series 2000-B, classes A-1A, A-1, M-1, M-2, and B-1. In addition, Moody's placed on review for possible upgrade 11 classes of mezzanine and subordinated classes from four mortgage transactions issued by Metropolitan Asset Funding. Moody's said the mortgage pools backing the classes on review for possible downgrade have experienced higher-than-expected losses -- especially the pool backing the 2000-B transaction -- and the levels of credit enhancement for those classes appear to be insufficient to maintain their current ratings.