Fitch Upgrades American Home Mortgage's Primary Servicer Rating To 'RPS3+'.

NEW YORK -- Fitch Ratings has upgraded American Home Mortgage Servicing Inc.'s (AHMS) residential primary servicer ratings for prime, Alt-A and home equity/home equity lines of credit (HELOC) products to 'RPS3+' from 'RPS3'. The ratings are based on AHMS' experienced management team, effective loan administration processes and capable default management practices. The ratings also reflect AHMS' reliable training programs and continued commitment to technological enhancements.

Located in Melville, NY, American Home Mortgage Investment Corp. is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that invests in residential mortgage backed securities (RMBS). Its subsidiary, American Home Mortgage Corp. (AHM) originates residential mortgage loans through retail, broker, correspondent, and direct to consumer channels.

With servicing offices located in Irving, Texas, AHMS is the company's servicing arm. As of June 30, 2006, AHMS maintained a servicing portfolio of nearly 208,000 loans with an unpaid principal balance (UPB) of over $43.5 billion. The portfolio consists of 73% prime non-conforming, 17% Alt-A, 5% FHA/VA, and 5% home equity product by loan volume. Management indicated that it will continue to maintain its long term strategy of providing branded servicing for AHM productions and projects year end 2006 servicing volumes to reach approximately 240,000 loans with a UPB of between $50-55 billion, a 30% growth over December 2005 volumes.

Since Fitch's prior review, AHMS continued to refine its servicing platform through operational and technological improvements that have further enhanced the efficiencies and productivity of the company. To support its portfolio growth, AHMS continued to leverage its strong management team increasing its servicing staff to 254 employees, a 35% increase since the prior Fitch review. During the year, AHMS created a new training center to further strengthen its training program and developed an initial three week servicing internship program for all new hires.

Furthermore, AHMS improved its technology infrastructure within its loan administration areas to improve its servicing operations. In addition to deploying document imaging, AHMS implemented call optimization software and call recording to augment agent performance and increase penetration rates. Investor reporting capabilities were improved through the implementation of enhanced reporting software.

Fitch believes AHMS has the requisite management and staff, experience, technology, and controls necessary to manage its projected growth. However, Fitch will continue to monitor the company's effectiveness in maintaining consistent performance in the pursuit of 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 some of these rating levels, Fitch further differentiates ratings by plus (+) and minus (-) symbols, as well as the flat rating. For more information on Fitch's residential servicer rating program, See Fitch's report 'Rating U.S. Residential Mortgage Servicers,' dated June 21, 2006 and 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.