PHH's Servicer Ratings Downgraded

The residential primary servicer ratings of PHH Mortgage Corp. for prime, alternative-A, and home equity products have been lowered from RPS1 to RPS1-minus by Fitch Ratings.Fitch said the actions were based on the downgrade of the underlying corporate rating of the parent company, PHH Corp., whose senior debt was recently downgraded from A-minus to BBB-plus. (PHH announced in July that its financial statements for 2005 would need to be restated.) Fitch rates residential servicers on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being the highest rating. The rating agency can be found online at http://www.fitchratings.com.