Fitch Affirms 'RPS2-' RMBS Servicer Ratings for Regions Mortgage.NEW YORK New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of -- Fitch Ratings Fitch Ratings An international rating agency for financial institutions, insurance companies, and corporate, sovereign, and municipal debt. Fitch Ratings has headquarters in New York and London and is wholly owned by FIMALAC of Paris. affirms the 'RPS2-' residential primary servicer rating for Alt-A and subprime products for Regions Mortgage, a division of Regions Financial Corp. The primary servicer ratings reflect the experienced management team, capable loan administration policies, effective default management procedures, and competent use of technology. The ratings also reflect the financial strength of its parent, Regions Financial Corporation (rated 'A+' by Fitch). Regions Mortgage is a residential mortgage originator Originator A bank, savings and loan, or mortgage banker that initially made a mortgage loan that is part of a pool. Also, an investment bank that has worked with the issuer of a new securities offering from the beginning and is usually appointed manager of the underwriting and servicer headquartered in Memphis, TN, with an additional servicing site in Hattiesburg, MS. At the time of Fitch's prior review, Regions Mortgage was a division of Union Planters Planters is an American snack food company under Kraft Foods manufacturing, best known for its nuts and the Mr. Peanut icon that symbolizes them. Started by Italian immigrants Amedeo Obici and Mario Peruzzi in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, in 1906, it was incorporated in 1908 Bank, NA (Union Planters). Union Planters has since merged into Regions Financial Corp. As a result, Regions is no longer regulated by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (or OCC) was established by the National Currency Act of 1863 and serves to charter, regulate, and supervise all national banks and the federal branches and agencies of foreign banks in the United States. . According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. management, Regions Mortgage is licensed to service mortgage loans in all 50 states. Regions' parent, Regions Bank, is a subsidiary of Regions Financial Corporation, which has over $84.7 billion in assets as of Dec. 31, 2005. Regions operates throughout the South, Midwest, and Texas with its primary business focus being the origination Origination The process through which a mortgage lender creates a mortgage secured by some amount of the mortgagor's real property. Notes: Also known as loan origination, everyone must go through the origination process when securing a mortgage for a piece of real , marketing and servicing of residential mortgage loans. Regions Mortgage has serviced a broad array of residential mortgage loan products for more than 16 years. As of Dec. 31, 2005, the company serviced approximately 396,000 residential mortgage loans with an aggregate principal balance of $37 billion, a decrease of 5.5% in dollar volume and 8.3% in loan count from Dec. 31, 2004. At year-end 2005, Regions' portfolio was composed of 62.3% prime, 13.0% Alt-A, 12.6% FHA/VA, and 12.0% subprime product. Management indicated that the decrease in the portfolio was due to the 2005 sale of wholesale operations during a period of a rising interest rate environment, and that they expect the portfolio to begin to grow again by the end of 2006. Fitch's review confirmed that Regions Mortgage has the requisite management, training, technology, and controls necessary to service its portfolio. Reasonable increases in the size of the subprime portfolio should be scalable to current operations; however, Fitch believes a significant change in the complexion complexion /com·plex·ion/ (kom-plek´shun) the color and appearance of the skin of the face. com·plex·ion n. The natural color, texture, and appearance of the skin, especially of the face. of the portfolio such as the addition of a large amount of lower credit quality subprime or nonperforming loans could stress the operation, especially its default management processes. As a result, Fitch will continue to monitor Regions' effectiveness in maintaining consistent performance while pursuing its growth initiatives. Fitch rates residential mortgage primary, master, and special servicers on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being the highest rating. Within each of these rating levels, Fitch further differentiates ratings by plus (+) and minus (-) as well as the flat rating. For more information on the review and rating process for servicers, see Fitch Research on 'Residential Mortgage Servicer Ratings,' dated Feb. 21, 2003, available on the Fitch Ratings web site at www.fitchratings.com. Fitch's rating definitions and the terms of use Terms of Use are rules set up by the owner of an intellectual property or service to govern how they may be legally used. In many cases, terms of service are used as a contractual agreement between a company and users of a service they provide. 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 Policies and Procedures are a set of documents that describe an organization's policies for operation and the procedures necessary to fulfill the policies. They are often initiated because of some external requirement, such as environmental compliance or other governmental are also available from the 'Code of Conduct' section of this site. |
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