NEW YORK (Standard & Poor's) Dec. 13, 2007--Standard & Poor's Ratings Services
today raised its commercial mortgage servicer ranking on Capstone Realty
Advisors LLC (Capstone) to ABOVE AVERAGE from AVERAGE. At the same time, we
revised our outlook to stable from positive.
The raised ranking reflects various technology improvements, including
the implementation of customer request tracking and an upgrade of the
corporate Web site. The technology enhancements also establish a foundation
for a borrower Web site. The alignment between Capstone and its parent,
National City Corp., for the origination and servicing of commercial real
estate loans has improved, which has helped increase the growth and geographic
diversity of the servicing portfolio. Furthermore, National City directly
performs and administers all of Capstone's quality control and internal audit
programs, strengthening the function's independence. The relationship with
National City has also expanded the breadth of Capstone's quality control
program. Overall, Capstone is an efficient and effective servicer and
continues to work on operational enhancements.
The outlook is stable. Capstone has improved operational effectiveness as
well as the origination and servicing relationship it maintains with its
parent. Standard & Poor's believes that Capstone's relationship-building
efforts with National City, along with other expansion initiatives and/or
acquisitions, coupled with the reliability of its investor base, provides the
basis for a very stable servicing platform.
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