Fitch, KBRA Issue Expected, Preliminary Ratings On MSRM 2021-5

Both Fitch Ratings and Kroll Bond Rating Agency (KBRA) assigned ratings to residential mortgage-backed certificates totaling $478.34 million issued recently by Morgan Stanley Residential Mortgage Loan Trust 2021-5 (MSRM 2021-5).

Fitch assigned the following expected ratings:

• Class A-1-IO, A-4-A, A-4A-IO, A-5-A, A-5A-IO, A-6, A-6-IO, A-9, and A-9-IO: AAA
• Class B-1: AA-
• Class B-2: A-
• Class B-3: BBB-
• Class B-4: BB-
• Class B-5: B
• Class B-6: Not rated

KBRA assigned the following preliminary ratings:

• Class A-1-IO, A-4-A, A-4A-IO, A-5-A, A-5A-IO, A-6, A-6-IO, A-9, and A-9-IO: AAA
• Class B-1: AA
• Class B-2: A
• Class B-3: BBB
• Class B-4: BB-
• Class B-5: B-
• Class B-6: Not rated

This is the eighth post-crisis transaction off the Morgan Stanley Residential Mortgage Loan Trust shelf; the first transaction was issued in 2014.

This is the sixth MSRM transaction that comprises loans from various sellers and acquired by Morgan Stanley in its prime-jumbo aggregation process. The certificates are supported by 495 prime-quality loans with a total balance of approximately $478.34 million, as of the Aug. 1, 2021, cutoff date.

The pool consists of 100% fixed-rate mortgages from various mortgage originators: MAXEX LLC (38%), Cross Country Mortgage (23.78%); Guaranteed Rate (18.51%), Quicken Loans (10.74%), and others (contributing less than 10%).

The servicer for this transaction is Specialized Loan Servicing LLC (SLS). Nationstar Mortgage LLC will be the master servicer. Of the loans, 100% qualify as safe-harbor qualified mortgage (SHQM). There are no high-priced QM loans or non-QM loans in the pool.

For more on Fitch's ratings, click here.

For more on KBRA's ratings, click here.