Fitch Upgr Cendant Mortgage's Resi Servicer Rtg To `RPS2+'.

Business Editors

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 1, 2001

Fitch upgrades Cendant Mortgage Corp.'s (Cendant) residential primary servicer rating for prime product to `RPS2+'.

The `RPS2+' rating reflects Cendant's solid collateral performance, strong servicing procedures and controls, enhanced technology platform, experienced management team, as well as the financial backing of its parent, PHH Corporation., which is rated `A' by Fitch.

Cendant, formerly known as PHH Mortgage Services prior to 1997, and headquartered in Mt. Laurel, NJ, has been successfully servicing prime product for over 23 years. As of May 31, 2001 Cendant serviced a residential portfolio of over 665,000 loans for over $88 billion, ranking it among the 15 largest servicers in the nation. The majority (over 79%) of the servicing portfolio is comprised of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Ginnie Mae servicing.

Cendant's servicing portfolio has increased substantially since December 1999, by over 69% in dollar volume and 50% in loan volume. The company provides private label servicing for a wide variety of clients, and in 2001 assumed servicing responsibilities for over 40,000 home equity and line of credit loans. Cendant continues to enhance its servicing platform through the addition of seasoned managers, improvements in its loan administration, call center, customer service, and default management technologies, a robust, comprehensive training program, and demonstrated expertise in private label servicing. Fitch believes that the combination of Cendant's production of quality loan assets with its dynamic servicing operation contribute to the continued superior performance of its loan portfolio. Fitch will continue to monitor the company's performance and evaluate its progress in effectively managing its operations and growth initiatives.

Fitch rates residential mortgage primary, master, and special servicers on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being the highest rating. For more information on the review and rating process for servicers, see Fitch's Servicer Rating Criteria research report titled `Rating Residential Loan Servicers' dated Aug. 3, 1999, available on Fitch's web site at www.fitchratings.com.