American Mortgage News

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Fitch Ratings affirms Aurora Loan Services L.L.C.'s (Aurora) 'RPS2+' residential primary servicer rating for Alt-A products and its 'RSS2-' residential special servicer rating. In addition, Fitch affirms Aurora's residential master servicer rating of 'RMS1-'.

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Fitch rates IndyMac MBS, Inc., Residential Asset Securitization Trust (RAST) 2006-A16, residential mortgage pass-through certificates, as follows:

--$638.4 million classes 1-A-1, 1-A-2, 1-A-3, 1-A-4, 2-A-1, 2-A-2, 2-A-3, 1-PO, A-X, and A-R 'AAA' ('senior certificates');

FRANKLIN, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Benjamin Franklin Bancorp, Inc. (the "Company" or "Benjamin Franklin") (Nasdaq: BFBC), the bank holding company for Benjamin Franklin Bank (the “Bank”), announced today that the Bank has entered into a definitive agreement to sell and simultaneously lease back six of its branch locations. The purchase price for the six branches is $9.8 million. The transaction, which is subject to normal and customary closing conditions, is scheduled to close prior to December 31, 2006. As a result, the Company anticipates that its fourth quarter 2006 tax provision will be reduced by approximately $1.4 million, through the use of a capital loss carryover, the tax benefit of which was previously unrecorded. All told, a one-time increase in net income of approximately $1.1 million is expected in the fourth quarter of 2006 as a result of this transaction. The gain realized on the sale (approximately $3.9 million) will be deferred and recognized ratably over the initial lease term of 15 years.

DUBUQUE, Iowa--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF) today announced that it has completed the sale of its leasing subsidiary, ULTEA, to ALD Automotive and settled all outstanding litigation related to the transaction. ALD automotive is a wholly owned subsidiary of Société Générale Group. Under terms of the agreement, the transaction price was not disclosed.

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Fitch affirms Bank of America, N.A.'s (Bank of America) 'RPS1' residential primary servicer rating for prime and Alt-A products. In addition, Fitch assigns Bank of America a residential primary servicer rating of 'RPS1-' for its home equity and home equity lines of credit (HE/HELOC) product. The ratings are based on the company's experienced management team, robust internal control environment and advanced, integrated technology for both primary, Alt-A and HE/HELOC products. The ratings also reflect the company's strong financial condition, rated 'AA-' with a Positive Outlook by Fitch.

DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Capstead Mortgage Corporation (NYSE: CMO) announced today that it will pay a fourth quarter 2006 dividend of two cents per common share payable on January 22, 2007 to stockholders of record as of December 29, 2006.

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Anthracite Capital, Inc. (NYSE: AHR) (“Anthracite” or the “Company”) today announced the closing by Anthracite Euro CRE CDO 2006-1 P.L.C. (the “CDO”) of Anthracite’s first Euro-denominated secured debt offering, which is also the global markets’ first-ever European commercial real estate collateralized debt obligation transaction. The CDO sold €263.5 million of non-recourse debt at a weighted average spread to Euro Libor of 60 basis points. The €263.5 million consists of €251 million of investment grade debt at a weighted average spread to Euro Libor of 50 basis points and €12.5 million of below investment grade debt. Anthracite retained an additional €12.5 million of below investment grade debt and all of the CDO’s preferred shares. This transaction represents Anthracite's seventh CDO. The previous six were US dollar denominated.

Company Now Able to Work With More Mortgage Lenders to Increase Mexican
Homeownership

RICHMOND, Va., Dec. 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Genworth Financial,
Inc. (NYSE: GNW) has received the first authorization to incorporate a