Fitch Ratings Affirms GreenPoint Mortgage Resi Servicer At 'RPS2-'

Business Wire, June 28, 2002

Business Editors

Fitch Ratings has affirmed GreenPoint Mortgage Funding Inc.'s (GreenPoint) residential primary servicer rating for 'Alt-A residential mortgage loans and rating for home equity and HELOC (Home Equity Line of Credit) loans at 'RPS2-'. The affirmed ratings reflect the continued effectiveness of GreenPoint's established loan administration practices, creditable internal controls, successful default management processes, and focused training programs. The ratings are also supported by financial strength of its parent, GreenPoint Bank.

As of April 30, 2002, GreenPoint's servicing portfolio consisted of approximately 187,900 loans with an unpaid principal balance of $24.1 billion, of which approximately 41,500 loans representing $1.8 billion were home equity lines of credit, and 52,295 loans representing $8.1 billion were 'Alt-A' loans. Private residential mortgage backed securitizations comprise 38,000, or over 20% of the total servicing portfolio.

GreenPoint Mortgage Funding, Inc., is headquartered in Novato, California, and operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of GreenPoint Bank. GreenPoint Bank and GreenPoint Financial Corp. are both rated 'BBB' by Fitch. On June 3, 2002, GreenPoint Mortgage Funding announced a major change to its servicing platform, contracting with a leading provider of business process management services in Bangalore, India, Infosys, and its subsidiary, Progeon, Ltd (Progeon). GreenPoint's stated strategy in signing this agreement is to increase capacity and growth potential on a more cost-effective basis, while maintaining customer service levels. Under the agreement, GreenPoint will manage the facility, and it will be staffed by contract employees, provided by Progeon. The facility will handle certain mortgage back office functions, and is scheduled to be operational over a twelve-month transition period. The major portion of the current servicing operation is located in Columbus, GA, with certain post closing servicing functions performed at a Santa Rosa, CA office. As the transition plan is in its initial stages, Fitch will closely monitor the process to determine its long-term success and its effect on loan performance and impact, if any, on Fitch's servicer ratings for GreenPoint.

Fitch rates residential mortgage primary, master, and special servicers on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being the highest rating. Within each of these rating levels, Fitch further differentiates ratings by plus (+) and minus (-) as well as the flat rating. For more information on the review and rating process for servicers, see Fitch research on 'Rating Residential Loan Servicers', dated Aug. 3, 1999 and available on the Fitch Ratings web site at 'www.fitchratings.com'.