Fitch has affirmed Wells Fargo Consumer Credit Group, a business division of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.'s (CCG) residential servicer rating as follows:
--Primary servicer rating for home equity/home equity lines of credit at 'RPS2'.
The rating action reflects the company's experienced management team, robust internal control environment and solid performing loan procedures. The rating also reflects the financial strength of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., whose long-term debt is rated 'AA' by Fitch.
Headquartered in San Francisco, CA, CCG is a leading originator and servicer of home equity loans and lines of credit. The home equity portfolio has been serviced from Beaverton, OR, Billings, MT and Des Moines, IA for more than 10 years. The company's integrated technology and customer-focused strategy have positioned CCG to successfully service home equity loans and home equity lines of credit. As of March 31, 2007, CCG serviced more than 1.6 million loans totaling $80.6 billion and representing a 6.6% growth rate over 2006.
CCG continues to advance its servicing platform through improvements to technology, staffing and training. Additionally, the company has made improvements to its loss mitigation strategies incorporating revised call models and high-risk loan segmentation. Further, the company made improvements to its net available equity model, which is used to determine ultimate loss. However, the company does not use a decision model or decision tree to determine the most advantageous loss mitigation scenario.
Fitch's review confirmed that CCG has maintained a capable and focused servicing organization and believes that CCG will continue to adequately service home equity loans and home equity lines of credit. However, Fitch will continue to monitor CCG's efforts to maintain portfolio and operational performance in a high delinquency environment.
Fitch Ratings rates residential mortgage primary, master, and special servicers on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being the highest rating. Within some of these rating levels, Fitch further differentiates ratings by plus (+) and minus (-) as well as the flat rating. For more information on Fitch's residential servicer rating program, please see Fitch's report 'Rating U.S. Residential Mortgage Servicers', dated November 29, 2006, which is available on Fitch Ratings web site at www.fitchratings.com.
Fitch's rating definitions and the terms of use of such ratings are available on the agency's public site, www.fitchratings.com. Published ratings, criteria and methodologies are available from this site, at all times. Fitch's code of conduct, confidentiality, conflicts of interest, affiliate firewall, compliance and other relevant policies and procedures are also available from the 'Code of conduct' section of this site.
