Approximately $378.7 Million of Structured Securities Affected
New York, February 23, 2012 -- Moody's has downgraded the ratings of three classes of Certificates issued
by COMM 2008-RS3 Commercial Mortgage Related Securities,
Series 2008-RS3 (COMM 2008-RS3) due to deterioration in
the underlying collateral as evidenced by Moody's weighted average
rating factor (WARF) and weighted average recovery rate (WARR).
The affirmations are due to the key transaction parameters performing
within levels commensurate with the existing ratings levels. The
rating action is the result of Moody's on-going surveillance
of commercial real estate collateralized debt obligation (CRE CDO and
ReRemic) transactions.
Cl. A-2A, Downgraded to Caa2 (sf); previously
on Mar 2, 2011 Downgraded to Caa1 (sf)
Cl. A-2B, Downgraded to Caa2 (sf); previously
on Mar 2, 2011 Downgraded to Caa1 (sf)
Cl. B, Downgraded to Caa3 (sf); previously on Mar 2,
2011 Downgraded to Caa2 (sf)
Cl. C, Affirmed at Caa3 (sf); previously on Mar 2,
2011 Downgraded to Caa3 (sf)
Cl. D, Affirmed at Caa3 (sf); previously on Mar 2,
2011 Downgraded to Caa3 (sf)
Cl. E, Affirmed at Caa3 (sf); previously on Mar 2,
2011 Downgraded to Caa3 (sf)
Cl. F, Affirmed at Caa3 (sf); previously on Mar 2,
2011 Downgraded to Caa3 (sf)
Cl. G, Affirmed at Caa3 (sf); previously on Mar 26,
2010 Downgraded to Caa3 (sf)
Cl. H, Affirmed at Ca (sf); previously on Mar 2,
2011 Downgraded to Ca (sf)
Cl. X-B, Affirmed at Ba3 (sf); previously on
Feb 22, 2012 Upgraded to Ba3 (sf)
Cl. X-W, Affirmed at Ba3 (sf); previously on
Feb 22, 2012 Upgraded to Ba3 (sf)
RATINGS RATIONALE
COMM 2008-RS3 is a direct pass-through of Class A-2A,
Class A-2B, Class X-W, Class X-B,
Class C, Class E, Class F, Class G, Class H,
Class J and Class K (together the "Reference Classes") of
the Max CMBS I Ltd., Series 2008-1 (Max Series 2008-1).
As of the January 18, 2012 Trustee Report issued for Max Series
2008-1, the aggregate balance of the Reference Classes was
$378.7 million, the same as that at issuance.
Since the ratings of the Certificates are linked to the ratings of the
Reference Classes, any credit action on the Reference Classes may
trigger a review of the ratings of the Certificates.
The performance expectations for a given variable indicate Moody's forward-looking
view of the likely range of performance over the medium term. From
time to time, Moody's may, if warranted, change these
expectations. Performance that falls outside the given range may
indicate that the collateral's credit quality is stronger or weaker than
Moody's had anticipated when the related securities ratings were issued.
Even so, a deviation from the expected range will not necessarily
result in a rating action nor does performance within expectations preclude
such actions. The decision to take (or not take) a rating action
is dependent on an assessment of a range of factors including, but
not exclusively, the performance metrics.
Primary sources of assumption uncertainty are the extent of the slowdown
in growth in the current macroeconomic environment and the commercial
real estate property markets. While commercial real estate property
markets are gaining momentum, a consistent upward trend will not
be evident until the volume of transactions increases, distressed
properties are cleared from the pipeline and job creation rebounds.
The hotel and multifamily sectors are in recovery and improvements in
the office sector continue, with fundamentals in Gateway cities
outperforming their suburban counterparts. However, office
demand is closely tied to employment, where fundamentals remain
weak, so significant improvement may be delayed. Performance
in the retail sector has been mixed with on-going rent deflation
and leasing challenges. Across all property sectors, the
availability of debt capital continues to improve with monetary policy
expected to remain supportive and interest rate hikes postponed.
Moody's central global macroeconomic scenario reflects an overall downward
revision of forecasts since last quarter, amidst ongoing fiscal
consolidation efforts, household and banking sector deleveraging,
persistently high unemployment levels, and weak housing markets
that will continue to constrain growth.
The methodologies used in this rating were "Moody's Approach to Rating
SF CDOs" published in November 2010, "Moody's Approach to Rating
Commercial Real Estate CDOs" published in July 2011 and "Moody's
Approach to Rating Structured Finance Interest-Only Securities"
published in February 2012. Please see the Credit Policy page on
www.moodys.com for a copy of these methodologies.
REGULATORY DISCLOSURES
Although this credit rating has been issued in a non-EU country
which has not been recognized as endorsable at this date, this credit
rating is deemed "EU qualified by extension" and may still
be used by financial institutions for regulatory purposes until 30 April
2012. Further information on the EU endorsement status and on the
Moody's office that has issued a particular Credit Rating is available
on www.moodys.com.
For ratings issued on a program, series or category/class of debt,
this announcement provides relevant regulatory disclosures in relation
to each rating of a subsequently issued bond or note of the same series
or category/class of debt or pursuant to a program for which the ratings
are derived exclusively from existing ratings in accordance with Moody's
rating practices. For ratings issued on a support provider,
this announcement provides relevant regulatory disclosures in relation
to the rating action on the support provider and in relation to each particular
rating action for securities that derive their credit ratings from the
support provider's credit rating. For provisional ratings,
this announcement provides relevant regulatory disclosures in relation
to the provisional rating assigned, and in relation to a definitive
rating that may be assigned subsequent to the final issuance of the debt,
in each case where the transaction structure and terms have not changed
prior to the assignment of the definitive rating in a manner that would
have affected the rating. For further information please see the
ratings tab on the issuer/entity page for the respective issuer on www.moodys.com.
Information sources used to prepare the rating are the following:
parties involved in the ratings, parties not involved in the ratings,
public information, confidential and proprietary Moody's Investors
Service information, and confidential and proprietary Moody's
Analytics information.
Moody's did not receive or take into account a third-party
assessment on the due diligence performed regarding the underlying assets
or financial instruments related to the monitoring of this transaction
in the past six months.
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 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.
Romina Padhi
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
Michael M. Gerdes
MD - Structured Finance
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 Downgrades Three and Affirms Eight Classes of COMM 2008-RS3