MOODY'S RATES SENIOR CERTIFICATES ISSUED IN LONG BEACH MORTGAGE LOAN TRUST, SERIES 2004-3 DEAL, Aaa
$2.0 Billion of Asset-Backed Securities Rated.
New York, July 05, 2004 -- Moody's Investors Service has assigned a rating of Aaa to the senior certificates
issued in Long Beach Mortgage Loan Trust, Series 2004-3,
securitization of hybrid adjustable-rate (82%) and fixed-rate
subprime residential mortgage loans (18%), originated by
Long Beach Mortgage Company (Long Beach). In addition, ratings
ranging from Aa2 to Baa3 were assigned to the mezzanine and subordinated
classes of certificates issued in the transaction. The ratings
on the certificates are based on the quality of the underlying mortgage
loans, subordination, available excess spread, and overcollateralization.
Navneet Agarwal, a Moody's analyst, said that the credit quality
of the Long Beach originated loans backing the transaction is slightly
above average for the subprime mortgage market, and comparable to
mortgage pools backing Long Beach's recent transactions. Long Beach
targets borrowers with relatively strong credit scores and strong mortgage
payment history. The weighted-average FICO score of 636
for the obligors in this pool is higher than in subprime transactions
with similar hybrid adjustable rate and fixed rate mortgage loan concentration.
In addition, Long Beach has historically had a greater percentage
of mortgage loans for purchasing homes rather than cash outs or debt consolidations
as compared to an average subprime pool. Purchase money mortgages
comprised 46% of this pool, which is comparable to the last
Long Beach securitization. This is a positive feature because the
best indicator of property market value is an arms-length sale
to a third party. Another salient point about this securitization
is starting with 2004-1 securitization the pools backing Long Beach
securitization certificates have no second lien loans and no manufactured
housing loans.
The mortgage pool is split into group I and group II. The senior
Class A-1 certificates represent interests in the group I mortgage
loans, while the senior Class A-2, A-3 and A-4
certificates represent interests in group II mortgage loans. The
mezzanine and subordinate certificates represent interest in both mortgage
groups and provide support to all classes of senior certificates.
The deal has no initial overcollateralization and has an overcollateralization
target of 3.50% of the mortgage balance as of the cut-off
date.
The mortgage pool will be sub-serviced by Washington Mutual Bank.
In April 2001, Washington Mutual, Inc., Long
Beach's parent, dismantled Long Beach's servicing platform and transferred
the existing servicing portfolio to Washington Mutual Bank. As
a result of the transfer, the performance of the subprime mortgage
pools originated and previously serviced by Long Beach deteriorated.
Due to actions taken by Washington Mutual Bank to improve subprime servicing,
this deterioration in performance has abated. While serious delinquencies
on Long Beach pools remain high compared to performance prior to the servicing
transfer, Moody's believes this performance will improve over time.
Moody's incorporates the quality of the servicer into its rating analysis.
Long Beach is a specialty finance company engaged in the business of originating,
purchasing, and selling subprime mortgage loans. It originates
loans through a large network of mortgage brokers and re-underwrites
all loans prior to funding.
The complete rating actions are as follows:
Issuer: Long Beach Mortgage Loan Trust 2004-3
Securities: Asset Backed Certificates, Series 2004-3
Originator and Master Servicer: Long Beach Mortgage Company
Sub-Servicer: Washington Mutual Bank FA
Class A-1, $1,200,285,000,
Senior, L+0.250%, rated Aaa
Class A-2, $217,000,000, Senior,
L+0.120%, rated Aaa
Class A-3, $223,000,000, Senior,
L+0.260%, rated Aaa
Class A-4, $54,208,000, Senior,
L+0.500%, rated Aaa
Class S-1, Notional Balance, Senior, 4.500%,
rated Aaa
Class S-2, Notional Balance, Senior, 4.500%,
rated Aaa
Class M-1, $54,980,000, Subordinate,
L+0.570%, rated Aa1
Class M-2, $59,980,000, Subordinate,
L+0.600%, rated Aa2
Class M-3, $29,990,000, Subordinate,
L+0.650%, rated Aa3
Class M-4, $29,990,000, Subordinate,
L+1.075%, rated A1
Class M-5, $29,990,000, Subordinate,
L+1.150%, rated A2
Class M-6, $24,990,000, Subordinate,
L+1.425%, rated A3
Class M-7, $24,990,000, Subordinate,
L+1.950%, rated Baa1
Class M-8, $24,990,000, Subordinate,
L+2.150%, rated Baa2
Class M-9, $24,990,000, Subordinate,
L+3.000%, rated Baa3
Additional research will be available on http://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
Navneet Agarwal
Associate Analyst
Structured Finance Group
Moody's Investors Service
JOURNALISTS: 212-553-0376
SUBSCRIBERS: 212-553-1653