MOODY'S RATES CENTEX 2002-A SUB-PRIME MORTGAGE DEAL Aaa
Approximately $515 Million of Asset-Backed Securities Rated
New York, January 29, 2002 -- Moody's Investors Service has assigned a rating of Aaa to the senior certificates
in Centex's 2002-A securitization of fixed- and adjustable-rate
home equity loans. In addition, Moody's also assigned ratings
ranging from Aa2 to Baa2 to the subordinate certificates issued in the
transaction. The ratings are based primarily on the quality of
loans, subordination and excess spread.
Moody's Analyst, Joe Grohotolski, indicates that the credit
quality of the loans is about average for subprime mortgages and similar
to the loans backing Centex's most recent subprime securitization,
Series 2001-C. While Centex's pools generally have higher-than-average
weighted-average loan-to-value ratios, the
pool's strong aspects include a higher-than-average percentage
of single-family and owner-occupied properties, as
well as loans underwritten with full documentation standards.
The loan pool is divided into two groups. Group one and group two
consist of fixed- and adjustable-rate home equity loans
respectively. Group one will primarily support the fixed-rate
certificates and group two will primarily support the variable-rate
certificates. The deal benefits from cross-collateralization
of the two groups.
The weaker aspects of the group one loan pool include a slightly lower
FICO score (590) and a slightly higher concentration of second liens (9%)
than previous Centex deals. The risk associated with the weaker
aspects of the pool is mitigated by a high concentration of full documentation
loans (87%), owner-occupied properties (98%),
and single family properties (91%). Also, the loan-to-value
(LTV) distribution reveals that the higher LTV loans have a strong FICO
score. For instance, loans with an original LTV between 95.01
and 100 have a weighted-average FICO score of approximately 625
and loans with an original LTV between 90.01 and 95 and loans with
an original LTV between 85.01 and 90 both have a weighted-average
FICO score of approximately 590.
The group two pool is very similar to the ARM pool in Centex's most recent
securitization, 2001-C. Both the FICO score (572)
and the weighted-average LTV (81.5%) are slightly
weaker than the average subprime pool. These weaker pool characteristics
are mitigated by a high percentage of full documentation loans (89%),
owner-occupied properties (99%), and single family
properties (87%).
The complete rating actions are as follows:
Issuer: Centex Home Equity Loan Trust 2002-A
Securities: Centex Home Equity Loan Asset-Backed Certificates,
Series 2002-A
Originator and Servicer: Centex Home Equity Company, LLC
Class AF-1, $80,500,000, 2.91%,
rated Aaa
Class AF-2, $40,000,000, 3.89%,
rated Aaa
Class AF-3, $36,000,000, 4.64%,
rated Aaa
Class AF-4, $40,500,000, 5.56%,
rated Aaa
Class AF-5, $9,040,000, 5.98%,
rated Aaa
Class AF-6, $22,800,000, 5.54%,
rated Aaa
Class MF-1, $15,300,000, 6.14%,
rated Aa2
Class MF-2, $11,974,000, 6.54%,
rated A2
Class BF, $9,980,000, 6.73%,
rated Baa2
Class AV, $204,103,000, Variable Rate,
rated Aaa
Class MV-1, $18,046,000, Variable
Rate, rated Aa2
Class MV-2, $10,578,000, Variable
Rate, rated A2
Class BV, $16,179,000, Variable Rate,
rated Baa2
Centex Home Equity Company, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary
of Centex Financial Services, Inc. which is a subsidiary
of Centex Corporation (long term senior unsecured obligations rated Baa2
and commercial paper rated P-2 by Moody's), is a subprime
mortgage lender based in Dallas, Texas.
Additional research is available on http://www.moodys.com.
New York
Pramila Gupta
Managing Director
Structured Finance Group
Moody's Investors Service
JOURNALISTS: 212-553-0376
SUBSCRIBERS: 212-553-1653
New York
Joseph Grohotolski
Analyst
Structured Finance Group
Moody's Investors Service
JOURNALISTS: 212-553-0376
SUBSCRIBERS: 212-553-1653