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NEW YORK (Standard & Poor's) May 5, 2008--Standard & Poor's Ratings Services
today assigned its AVERAGE ranking to Cohen Financial L.P. as a commercial
mortgage servicer. The outlook on the ranking is positive.
The ranking reflects a well-controlled operation, which has been revised
over the past two years to improve efficiencies, upgrade technology, and
provide improved monitoring of various activities. Cohen Financial is a
lender- and borrower-focused organization, as demonstrated by the involvement
of its senior management in a number of industry organizations, as well as by
the company's efforts to improve overall industry borrower request response
times. Technology and controls were among the areas the company focused on
when it revised its operations during 2006 and 2007 to better serve both
client bases. Other enhancements included the hiring of new staff, broadening
industry expertise, and training.
The company has established a new well-written and concise policy and
procedure manual that covers all servicing activities. Cohen Financial
converted its prior servicing system to one that includes a shared-services
arrangement, which makes the company's operations very scaleable and
efficient. The company complies with the Mortgage Bankers Association's USAP
(Uniform Single Attestation Program) and Regulation AB requirements.
Additionally, Cohen Financial has proactively instituted its own internal
operational audit/quality control program for 2008.
The positive outlook is based on the company's newly instituted internal
audit program, and Cohen Financial's continued enchantments to its policies
and procedures. Cohen Financial has traditionally been an insurance company
correspondent that provided both origination and servicing. In the past
decade, the company also expanded into subservicing for commercial
mortgage-backed securities (CMBS). The company's revised business model is, in
part, focused on recognizing that servicing is a dedicated line of business,
and has aligned its staff and technology to better serve all of its clients.
Cohen Financial did experience a relatively higher-than-normal employee
turnover rate during the structural changes, but Standard & Poor's believes
the turnover rate will normalize now that the company has successfully revised
its operations.
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