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[b*DJ Press Release: S&P Upgrades Comm'l Ranking On Trimont Real Estate To STRONG

Feb 05, 2014 09:44:00 (ET)



The following is a press release from Standard & Poor's:

-- We upgraded our ranking on Trimont Real Estate Advisors Inc. as a
commercial loan special servicer to STRONG from ABOVE AVERAGE.
-- We affirmed our STRONG ranking on Trimont as a commercial loan
construction servicer.
-- Our rankings reflect our favorable assessment of the company's
management and organization, which includes a highly experienced staff, an
effective organizational structure, and a sound quality control and audit
framework.

NEW YORK (Standard & Poor's) Feb. 5, 2014--Standard & Poor's Ratings Services
today affirmed its STRONG overall ranking on Trimont as a commercial
construction loan servicer. We upgraded our overall ranking as a commercial
special servicer to STRONG from ABOVE AVERAGE, reflecting our favorable view
of the company's management and organization, which includes a highly
experienced staff, an effective organizational structure, and a sound quality
control and audit framework.

KEY RANKING FACTORS
Strengths:
-- A successful track record and extensive commercial and multifamily
real estate expertise;
-- Well-developed processes and specialization in construction
development asset management;
-- Solid control and governance framework including proactive policies
and procedures, internal/external audits, compliance, and prudent approval
matrices; and
-- Good leverage of technology systems to manage data and report to
clients.

Weakness:
-- Higher-than-average turnover rates.

Trimont is a privately owned commercial real estate asset management firm, in
operation for 25 years. It provides a full range of services to real estate
lenders and investors on both debt and equity investments. Core services
include asset management (primary, fund, and special), asset servicing, bond
finance services, defeasance consulting, underwriting, and portfolio risk
analysis and consulting. Trimont's portfolio includes mezzanine fund assets,
redevelopment and construction loan servicing, and special servicing
associated with securitized and nonsecuritized transactions, real estate
equity fund assets, Fannie Mae watch list management, real-estate owned (REO)
and small loan disposition assignments, CMBS special servicing, and permanent
mortgage primary servicing (mainly for institutional clients). Services also
include underwriting, due diligence, and consulting. Trimont has more than 200
employees, with headquarters in Atlanta and offices in Irvine, New York,
London, and the Netherlands.

Key Changes Since Our Last Review
Since our last review, Trimont has:
-- Continued its focus on client diversification;
-- Expanded its European servicing platform;
-- Established a special processing team for complex servicing matters;
-- Made multiple process workflow and system enhancements;
-- Upgraded it servicing system (McCracken Strategy v. 17.1); and
-- Hired a highly experienced director of special servicing.

The construction portfolio volume remains fairly stable, and Trimont is
managing a sizeable construction loan portfolio. As of June 30, 2013, the
portfolio was $12.3 billion (334 projects with an average project size of
approximately $37 million). The portfolio is geographically diverse, including
all major property types (multifamily projects are the highest concentration,
at 36%). As of June 30, 2013, Trimont the named special servicer on seven
commercial mortgage-backed securities transactions with 18 assets, and a total
outstanding balance of $2.2 billion. The active special servicing portfolio
consists of 692 loans and REO with an outstanding balance of $1.1 billion.
Since 2002, Trimont has resolved a nonperforming portfolio of over $16 billion
consisting of nearly 1,850 properties. It disposed of 710 REO assets (just
over $4.7 billion) since 2002.

OUTLOOK
Our outlooks are Stable for both rankings. We base our outlooks on Trimont's
successful track record in managing a diverse commercial/multifamily mortgage
loan portfolio for a variety of capital sources. Trimont has strong management
and organization, continues to invest in technology systems, and is enhancing
its organizational effectiveness. It maintains a well-defined business model,
with reasonable growth projections and increasing client diversification.

RELATED RESEARCH AND CRITERIA
-- Revised Criteria For Including RMBS, CMBS, And ABS Servicers On
Standard & Poor's Select Servicer List, April 16, 2009
-- Servicer Evaluation Ranking Criteria: U.S., Sept. 21, 2004


Servicer Analyst: Timothy E Steward, New York (1) 212-438-3799;
[e-mail]
Secondary Contact: Andrew Foster, New York (1) 212-438-2759;
[e-mail]


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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 05, 2014 09:44 ET (14:44 GMT)]