Fitch Affirms GMAC Mortgage's Residential Primary & Special Servicer Ratings; Outlook Negative

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Fitch Ratings has affirmed the following U.S. residential mortgage servicer ratings for GMAC Mortgage LLC (GMACM) as follows (These servicer ratings formerly were under the name of GMACM's parent, Residential Capital LLC (ResCap)):

--Residential primary servicer rating for prime product at 'RPS3';

--Residential primary servicer rating for Alt-A product at 'RPS3';

--Residential primary servicer rating for subprime product at 'RPS3';

--Residential primary servicer rating for HLTV product at RPS3';

--Residential primary servicer rating for HELOC product at 'RPS3';

--Residential primary servicer rating for subservicer at 'RPS3';

--Residential special servicer rating at 'RSS3'.

The Rating Outlook for GMACM's servicer ratings is Negative. Fitch maintains its Negative Outlook for the entire U.S. Residential Mortgage Servicer ratings sector.

The servicer rating actions reflect GMACM's improving performance metrics and continued investment in its servicing technology. However, the rating actions also reflect its parent's financial condition. Fitch downgraded ResCap's IDR to 'CCC' from 'B' on Nov. 11, 2011. Fitch also downgraded the IDR for ResCap's parent, Ally Financial Inc. (Ally), to 'BB-' from 'BB' and revised the Rating Outlook to Negative on Feb. 2, 2012. A company's financial condition is an important component of Fitch's servicer rating analysis.

The servicer rating actions also take into consideration the foreclosure processing deficiencies highlighted by the Consent Order that GMACM, ResCap, and Ally entered into with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in April 2011, and instances of SCRA loan non-compliance.

Fitch recently completed its operational review of GMACM's servicing operations and confirmed that the company continues to perform at a level consistent with the prior year. The Negative Rating Outlook assigned to the servicer ratings is due to

on-going concerns about the company's financial condition.

Finally, the ratings reflect Fitch's overall concerns for the U.S. residential servicing industry, which include the ability to maintain high performance standards while addressing the rising cost of servicing and changes to industry practices, which are likely to be mandated by regulators and other parties.

The ratings were determined in accordance with Fitch's criteria 'Rating U.S. Residential and Small Balance Commercial Mortgage Servicer Rating Criteria' and 'Global Rating Criteria for Structured Finance Servicers' which are available on the Fitch Ratings web site at 'www.fitchratings.com'.

As of Aug. 31, 2011, GMACM was servicing over 2.5 million loans with a UPB of $383.6 billion. The servicing portfolio was comprised of 10.0% non-agency prime first and second liens, 7.0% subprime first and second liens, 5.5% Alt-A, and 1.9% HLTV, 5.7% HELOC products, with the balance consisting of conventional conforming and FHA/VA loans.

GMACM's operations are located in Waterloo, IA, Dallas, TX, and Fort Washington, PA. The company's customer service, collections, and loss mitigation contact centers are under common management, with customer service and collections augmented by two off-shore vendors with operations in Manila, Philippines, and Mexico City, Mexico. Several off-shore vendors also support back office functions for loan administration and default management, and investor reporting processes. GMACM launched its pilot single point of contact (SPOC) program in April 2011, and rolled out the full program in August 2011 with 200 SPOC relationship managers located in Waterloo and Dallas, which addresses some of the items contained in the Consent Order.

GMACM continues to update and enhance its servicing systems. During the current review period, the company focused primarily on projects involving industry regulations and the Consent Order including: SPOC-related enhancements to telephony, scanning, faxing, and scheduling; and system support for loss mitigation, HAMP, and 2MP. GMACM also enhanced its website to enable borrowers to complete financial analysis forms on-line, upload images of documents directly to the company's electronic file storage system, and feed the financial analysis data to its servicing system, eliminating manual data entry and streamlining the process.

Fitch has reviewed GMACM's servicing operations and believes the company continues to maintain a capable servicing platform with the staff, default procedures, controls, and technology to manage its servicing portfolio. However, Fitch will continue to monitor the company's ability to maintain performance as it pursues its servicing initiatives in this high delinquency environment.

In November 2010, Fitch assigned a Negative Outlook for the entire U.S. Residential Mortgage Servicer ratings sector on increased concerns surrounding alleged procedural defects in the judicial foreclosure process. Responses to Fitch's recent survey of its rated servicers regarding internal procedures used to verify and execute foreclosure affidavits indicate that all servicers are taking this matter seriously and are continuing to work to resolve any issues uncovered. Fitch may place an individual servicer's ratings on Rating Watch Negative and/or downgrade the ratings if the servicer does not diligently and timely review its processes and take immediate corrective action to remediate any foreclosure action or documentation failures. Fitch may take similar actions on a servicer's ratings if the impact of the additional costs that must be borne by the servicer significantly affects its financial condition. Until those conclusions are reached, the Negative Outlook on the sector affects all U.S. RMBS servicers.

Fitch 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 and Small Balance Commercial Mortgage Servicer Rating Criteria', dated Jan. 31, 2011, which is available on the Fitch Ratings web site at 'www.fitchratings.com'.

Additional information is available at 'www.fitchratings.com'. The ratings above were solicited by, or on behalf of, the issuer, and therefore, Fitch has been compensated for the provision of the ratings.

Applicable Criteria and Related Research:

--'Global Rating Criteria for Structured Finance Servicers' (Aug. 13, 2010);

--'U.S. Residential and Small Balance Commercial Mortgage Servicer Rating' (Jan. 31, 2011).

Applicable Criteria and Related Research:

Global Rating Criteria for Structured Finance Servicers

http://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=547305

U.S. Residential and Small Balance Commercial Mortgage Servicer Rating Criteria

http://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=600065

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