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Amend: Fitch Downgrades Option One's Servicer Ratings; Remain on Watch Negative.


NEW YORK -- This is a correction for a message issued on October 22, 2007. It amends the types of servicers in the rating list.

Fitch Ratings has downgraded Option One Mortgage Corporation's (Option One) residential servicer ratings as follows:

--Residential primary servicer for subprime products to 'RPS2+' from 'RPS1'

--Residential primary special servicer rating to 'RSS2+' from 'RSS1'

The ratings remain on Rating Watch Negative where they were placed on July 17, 2007.

The rating actions reflect the underlying corporate rating of Option One's parent, Block Financial Corporation (BFC), and its ultimate parent, H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE: HRB), whose senior debt was downgraded by Fitch on July 31, 2007 to 'A-' and placed on Watch Negative. The rating actions also reflect the impact on Option One's servicing platform of decreased loan originations, changes in credit lines, as well as the uncertainties regarding the sale of the servicing platform to Cerberus Capital Management, LP, which is scheduled to close in the fourth quarter of 2007.

The Rating Watch Negative indicates that further downgrades are possible, depending upon the outcome of the proposed sale of Option One and the resultant impact on financial condition on the servicing platform. A company's financial condition is an important component of Fitch's servicer rating analysis. The rating actions also reflect the operational challenges facing Option One in the subprime market, including deterioration in liquidity, increasing delinquencies, higher cost of servicing defaulted loans, reductions in originations, and decreasing servicing portfolio.

Fitch recently completed its operational review, which confirmed that Option One continues to be a capable servicer of subprime mortgages with an experienced management team, accomplished loan administration procedures, and solid internal control environment. Since Fitch's prior review, Option One's servicing manager departed and was replaced by the former servicing manager, who ran the servicing operation for a number of years. The company continues to make reductions to its current servicing staffing levels through attrition and leveraging offshore and domestic vendors. Option One continues to outsource back office functions to its offshore vendors and captive sites in an effort to further reduce costs. The company also outsourced several customer contact functions, including portions of loss mitigation and collection efforts. However, management recently determined that several of these customer facing functions, specifically loss mitigation are best handled by domestic associates who are more familiar with the current market conditions and issues surrounding loss mitigation, foreclosures and bankruptcies. As a result, the majority of loss mitigation and late stage collections are performed onshore in one of Option One's site.

Historically, Option One's special servicer rating was based on its ability to service its own defaulted loans. However, the company recently expanded its special servicing capabilities to service defaulted loans for other companies.

Fitch will continue to monitor the sale of the servicing platform and the potential effect the change of ownership may have on the financial condition, ability to maintain long term stable funding, and loan servicing and operational capabilities. Fitch will also continue to monitor Option One's initiatives to expand into new products and services and manage its outsourced functions, while maintaining performance in a high delinquency environment.

Fitch rates residential mortgage primary, master, and special servicers on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being the highest rating. Within some of these rating levels, Fitch further differentiates ratings by plus (+) and minus (-) as well as the flat rating. For more information on Fitch's residential servicer rating program, please see Fitch's report 'Rating U.S. Residential Mortgage Servicers', dated Nov. 29, 2006, which is available on the Fitch Ratings web site at www.fitchratings.com.

Fitch's rating definitions and the terms of use of such ratings are available on the agency's public site, www.fitchratings.com. Published ratings, criteria and methodologies are available from this site, at all times. Fitch's code of conduct, confidentiality, conflicts of interest, affiliate firewall, compliance and other relevant policies and procedures are also available from the 'Code of Conduct' section of this site.
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Publication:Business Wire
Date:Oct 23, 2007
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