DBRS Assigns AAA (sf) Rating to CHIP Mortgage Trust Series 2013-1 Medium Term Notes

DBRS has today assigned a AAA (sf) rating to the $100 million, Series 2013-1 Medium Term Notes (the Notes) issued by CHIP Mortgage Trust (the Trust). The Notes have a coupon rate of 3.663% and an expected final payment date of September 25, 2018. All senior notes issued by the Trust rank pari passu with each other.

If the Notes are not repaid on the expected final payment date, the Notes will pay the interest of a one-month banker’s acceptance (BA) rate plus 2.3% per annum thereafter until they are fully repaid. DBRS’s rating addresses the risk of default by the legal maturity date, which is September 25, 2038.

The AAA (sf) rating is based on the following considerations:

(1) Protection from (i) a minimum cash reserve equal to six months of interest on the Notes to mitigate cash flow irregularity, and (ii) the limit on senior debt issuance of up to 95% of the aggregate balance of reverse mortgages in the Trust. Following the issuance of the Notes, the senior debt issuance ratio is 90.4%.

(2) The conservative underwriting standards associated with the origination of the reverse mortgages, including (i) the use of qualified appraisers, (ii) the reduction of appraised values by region, property quality, property type and potential market illiquidity adjustments in specific locations and (iii) the use of conservative actuarial tables in determining the expected occupancy term.

(3) A large, diversified portfolio with residential real estate situated in or near major urban centres across Canada, with expected concentration in Ontario.

(4) The extensive experience of HomEquity Bank in originating and underwriting reverse mortgages, along with the level of ongoing review and reappraisal of the properties. Reappraisal of properties occurs on a formal basis at least every five years.

(5) A first-ranking charge on all the assets and undertakings of the Trust.

In addition, there is spread between the reverse mortgage rate and the cost of funds of the Notes and at least 45% equity in the underlying properties at origination. As of July 31, 2013, the average loan-to-value of the portfolio was 40.5%.

Notes:
All figures are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise noted.

The applicable methodologies are Rating Canadian Structured Finance Transactions, Appendix 4: Reverse Mortgage Transactions (August 2013) and Legal Criteria for Canadian Structured Finance (September 2013), which are available on our website under Methodologies.

The Rule 17g-7 Report of Representations and Warranties is hereby incorporated by reference and can be found by clicking on the link to the right under Related Research or by contacting us at info@dbrs.com.

The related regulatory disclosures pursuant to the National Instrument 25-101 Designated Rating Organizations are hereby incorporated by reference and can be found by clicking on the link to the right under Related Research or by contacting us at info@dbrs.com.