U.S. Residential Mortgage Servicer Rating Actions
New York, May 02, 2012 -- Moody's has placed on review for possible downgrade the following
servicer quality ("SQ") ratings of GMAC Mortgage, LLC
("GMAC Mortgage"):
SQ3+ as a Primary Servicer of prime residential mortgage
SQ3 as a Primary Servicer of subprime residential mortgage loans
SQ3 as a Primary Servicer of second lien loans
SQ3 as a Primary Servicer of HLTV residential mortgage loans
SQ3 as a Special Servicer
RATINGS RATIONALE
The review for possible downgrade is due to a decline in GMAC Mortgage's
servicing stability. We believe there is an increased possibility
of a reorganization through bankruptcy for its corporate parent,
Residential Capital LLC (ResCap), which it is actively considering
according to a recent SEC filing. We also believe there is increased
uncertainty of further liquidity and capital support for ResCap from Ally
Financial, Inc., GMAC Mortgage's ultimate corporate
parent.
ResCap recently announced that it did not make a required April 17 interest
payment on its senior notes. Unless paid within 30 days,
the missed payment will cause a default of the notes. On April
18, Moody's Investors Service downgraded the senior unsecured debt
rating of Residential Capital LLC (ResCap) to C from Ca. The rating
of Ally Financial, Inc. (B1) was not affected.
During the review period, Moody's will focus on ResCap's
financial stability and pursuit of strategic alternatives, and their
impact on the primary and special servicing operations.
GMAC Mortgage's primary servicing portfolio totaled approximately
2.4 million loans for an unpaid principal balance of approximately
$368.5 billion as of March 31, 2012.
The previous rating action for GMAC Mortgage's SQ ratings occurred
on April 16, 2012. At that time, Moody's confirmed
all of the company's SQ ratings.
Moody's SQ ratings represent its view of a servicer's ability to prevent
or mitigate asset pool losses across changing markets. The rating
scale ranges from SQ1 (strong) to SQ5 (weak). Where appropriate,
a "+" or "-" modifier will be appended to the relevant rating
to indicate a servicer's relative servicing quality within a particular
category. Moody's servicer ratings are differentiated in the marketplace
by focusing on performance management. SQ ratings for U.S.
residential mortgage servicers incorporate assessments of delinquency
transition rates, foreclosure timeline management, loan cure
rates, recoveries, loan resolution outcomes, and REO
management -- all critical indicators of a servicer's ability
to maximize returns from mortgage portfolios.
Moody's servicer ratings also consider the company's ability to maintain
its focus on high quality servicing in an economic downturn. Servicing
operations can be stressed by increasing the number of delinquent loans
while at the same time increasing the need for liquidity. The SQ
rating reflects our expectation of the impact that the servicing will
have on the on-going credit performance of the portfolio.
For this reason, Moody's monitors SQ ratings based on periodic information
provided by servicers and conducts a formal re-evaluation of its
servicer ratings annually.
The methodology used in this rating was "Moody's Approach to Rating Residential
Mortgage Servicers" published in January 2001. Please see the Credit
Policy page on www.moodys.com for a copy of this methodology.
Other factors used in this rating are described in "Updated Moody's Servicer
Quality Rating Scale and Definitions" published in May 2005.
REGULATORY DISCLOSURES
Moody's considers the quality of information available on the rated entity,
obligation or credit satisfactory for the purposes of issuing a rating.
Moody's adopts all necessary measures so that the information it uses
in assigning a rating is of sufficient quality and from sources Moody's
considers to be reliable including, when appropriate, independent
third-party sources. However, Moody's is not an auditor
and cannot in every instance independently verify or validate information
received in the rating process.
Please see Moody's Rating Symbols and Definitions on the Rating Process
page on www.moodys.com for further information on the meaning
of each rating category and the definition of default and recovery.
Please see ratings tab on the issuer/entity page on www.moodys.com
for the last rating action and the rating history. The date on
which some ratings were first released goes back to a time before Moody's
ratings were fully digitized and accurate data may not be available.
Consequently, Moody's provides a date that it believes is the most
reliable and accurate based on the information that is available to it.
Please see the ratings disclosure page on our website www.moodys.com
for further information.
Please see the ratings disclosure page on www.moodys.com
for general disclosure on potential conflicts of interests.
Please see the ratings disclosure page on www.moodys.com
for information on (A) MCO's major shareholders (above 5%) and
for (B) further information regarding certain affiliations that may exist
between directors of MCO and rated entities as well as (C) the names of
entities that hold ratings from MIS that have also publicly reported to
the SEC an ownership interest in MCO of more than 5%. A
member of the board of directors of this rated entity may also be a member
of the board of directors of a shareholder of Moody's Corporation;
however, Moody's has not independently verified this matter.
Please see Moody's Rating Symbols and Definitions on the Rating Process
page on www.moodys.com for further information on the meaning
of each rating category and the definition of default and recovery.
Please see ratings tab on the issuer/entity page on www.moodys.com
for the last rating action and the rating history.
The date on which some ratings were first released goes back to a time
before Moody's ratings were fully digitized and accurate data may not
be available. Consequently, Moody's provides a date that
it believes is the most reliable and accurate based on the information
that is available to it. Please see the ratings disclosure page
on our website www.moodys.com for further information.
Please see www.moodys.com for any updates on changes to
the lead rating analyst and to the Moody's legal entity that has issued
the rating.
Gene Berman
Asst Vice President - Analyst
Structured Finance Group
Moody's Investors Service, Inc.
250 Greenwich Street
New York, NY 10007
U.S.A.
JOURNALISTS: 212-553-0376
SUBSCRIBERS: 212-553-1653
William Fricke
VP - Senior Credit Officer
Structured Finance Group
JOURNALISTS: 212-553-0376
SUBSCRIBERS: 212-553-1653
Releasing Office:
Moody's Investors Service, Inc.
250 Greenwich Street
New York, NY 10007
U.S.A.
JOURNALISTS: 212-553-0376
SUBSCRIBERS: 212-553-1653
Moody's places GMAC's servicer quality ratings on review for possible downgrade