MOODY'S RATES IMPAC CMB TRUST SERIES 2003-11
Approximately $994.0 Million of Mortgage-Backed Securities Rated.
New York, December 08, 2003 -- Moody's Investors Service has assigned a rating of Aaa to the Class 1-A-1
and 2-A-1 bonds and Aa1 to Class 1-A-2 in
Impac's IMH Assets Corp. CMB Trust Series 2003-11 securitization
of adjustable-rate (ARM) Alternative A (Alt-A) mortgages.
In addition, Moody's has assigned ratings ranging from Aa2 to Baa2
to the mezzanine and subordinate bonds. The ratings are based on
the quality of the loans, available excess spread to cover losses,
overcollateralization, subordination, and a combination of
borrower and lender-paid mortgage insurance.
The loan pool consists primarily of one- to four-family
residential adjustable-rate Alt-A mortgage loans.
Alt-A loans are loans that are ineligible to be purchased by either
Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac under their standard guidelines. Examples
of Alt-A loans include loans to investors and loans with reduced
documentation standards. The weighted-average FICO scores
for Alt-A pools usually fall between 675 and 715.
The mortgage pool has been divided into two groups. Group 1,
representing approximately 91% of the aggregate, is comprised
of adjustable-rate residential mortgages, while Group 2 includes
adjustable-rate multifamily commercial mortgages. The mortgage
pool backing the securities is riskier than Alt-A pools generally.
This is because the pool includes a higher-than-average
percentage of interest-only hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages
(ARMs with an initial fixed-rate period) and loans that are secured
by commercial multifamily mortgages.
Approximately 46% of the Group 1 loans in the pool pay interest-only
for 5 or 10 years, and then principal and interest for the remaining
mortgage term. Loans with extended interest-only payment
periods are riskier than loans without an interest-only period
because there is no equity build up during the interest-only period
and less equity throughout the life of the mortgage. For this reason,
borrowers may be more likely to default on their mortgage payment in stressful
scenarios. If the borrower defaults, severity will be higher
as a result of less equity compared to mortgages that are fully amortizing.
The presence of commercial multifamily loans also adds to the credit risk
of the mortgage pool. These are loans that are collateralized by
multifamily dwellings that have more than four units. Although
commercial multifamily loans make up approximately 9% of the mortgage
pool, such loans require a substantially higher level of credit
enhancement relative to traditional residential loans. This is
due to the volatile nature of the expected cash flows. Occupancy
and local economic conditions such as employment and demographics heavily
influence the stability of rental revenue.
A positive attribute that helps to reduce potential losses to the mortgage
pool is the combination of borrower and lender-paid mortgage insurance
on most of the loans having a loan-to-value (LTV) ratio
above 80%. Radian Guaranty, Inc. (Radian) is
the lender-paid mortgage insurance provider. Moody's financial
strength rating for Radian is Aa3.
Impac Funding Corp. (Impac) is a mortgage banking company located
in Newport Beach, California. The company acquires mortgages
nationwide through bulk purchases, correspondents, and brokers.
Impac will be the master servicer. Initially Wendover Funding,
Inc. will service substantially all of the Group 1 loans.
Subservicing of the mortgage loans with respect Loan Group 1 will be transferred
to Countrywide Home Loans Servicing L.P., or an affiliate
thereof on or about January 1, 2004. Midland Loan Services,
Inc will be the subservicer with respect to the Group 2 loans.
The complete rating actions are as follows:
Issuer: Impac CMB Trust Series 2003-11
Securities: Collateralized Asset-Backed Bonds, Series
2003-11
Class 1-A-1, $803,803,000,
Variable, rated Aaa
Class 1-A-2, $16,404,000,
Variable, rated Aa1
Class 2-A-1, $39,719,000,
Variable, rated Aaa
Class 1-M-1, $46,934,000,
Variable, rated Aa2
Class 1-M-2, $25,062,000,
Variable, rated A1
Class 1-M-3, $19,138,000,
Variable, rated A2
Class 2-M-1, $11,171,000,
Variable, rated Aa2
Class 2-M-2, $10,905,000,
Variable, rated A2
Class 2-B-1, $20,835,000,
Variable, rated Baa2
Additional research will be available on http://www.moodys.com
New York
Jay A. Siegel
Managing Director
Structured Finance Group
Moody's Investors Service
JOURNALISTS: 212-553-0376
SUBSCRIBERS: 212-553-1653
New York
Pooja Bharwani
Associate Analyst
Structured Finance Group
Moody's Investors Service
JOURNALISTS: 212-553-0376
SUBSCRIBERS: 212-553-1653