Fitch Issues Construction Loan Servicer Rating to Wachovia Securities

Fitch Ratings issues a construction loan servicer rating of ‘Acceptable’ to Wachovia Securities (Wachovia). The rating considers Wachovia’s extensive history of construction loan administration and servicing, its experienced and tenured management and staff, and the strong financial resources provided by its parent, Wachovia Corporation.

In addition to corporate history, staffing, policies and procedures and technology, Fitch construction loan servicer reviews consider construction specific methodology. These areas include loan documentation and closing, risk/asset management, environmental risk management, disbursement administration and loan servicing operations.

Construction loan servicing is handled by the Construction Loan Administration (CLA) and Construction Management Group (CMG). CLA, with 143 employees, is regionally organized with offices in Jacksonville, FL, Winston-Salem, NC, Birmingham, AL and Philadelphia, and handles the day to day aspects of construction loan servicing and administration, including draw processing. CMG consists of nine employees in Charlotte, NC. The group is responsible for servicing Wachovia’s construction equity projects and will handle credit-based issues for securitized construction loans.

As of Dec. 30, 2006, Wachovia’s construction loan servicing portfolio consisted of 5,237 projects with an unpaid balance of $20.32 billion. At the same date, its construction equity servicing portfolio consisted of 69 projects valued at $563.5 million.

Fitch rates construction loan servicers as ‘Acceptable’ or ‘Unacceptable.’ Fitch is the first rating agency to publish a criteria piece regarding the rating of construction loan pools. For more information about Fitch construction loan servicer ratings, refer to the report titled ‘Rating U.S. Construction Loan Servicers’, dated Dec 05, 2006, available on Fitch’s web site, 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.
Contacts

Fitch Ratings
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Michelle Thomas, 312-368-3149 (Chicago)
Stephanie Petosa, 212-908-0720 (New York)
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