Fitch Ratings said today that it's reviewing RMBS transactions affected by an upcoming servicing transfer of loans from First Horizon National Corp (FHN) to Nationstar Mortgage (NSM).
The review — a process by which the rating agency is asked to provide so-called 'confirmation letters' involving affected transactions — is a standard process in which the agency verifies in advance that the servicing transfer will not affect underlying ratings on securities holding the mortgages where the servicing transfer will occur.
The confirmation process is required in most transfer agreements before a servicing transfer can take place.
Fitch said it will review approximately 82 separate transactions identified by First Horizon as being rated by the agency, and included in the proposed transfer. The dollar volume of the loans involved, or the total amount of servicing transfer, was not disclosed by Fitch.
The servicing transfer is expected to be complete by the end of November, and Fitch said in a statement that it "will conduct its analysis on the transactions and expects to provide feedback shortly."
"The ratings confirmation, if issued, will only address the effect of transferring the servicing from First Horizon to Nationstar," Fitch said. "It will not address whether the transfer is permitted by the terms of the transaction documents, nor will it address whether it is in the best interests of, or prejudicial to, some or all of the holders of the securities."
