DBRS Finalizes Provisional Ratings on Earnest Student Loan Program 2016-A LLC

DBRS, Inc. has today finalized its provisional ratings on the following classes of notes issued by Earnest Student Loan Program 2016-A LLC:

-- Series 2016-A, Class A-1 rated A (sf)
-- Series 2016-A, Class A-2 rated A (sf)
-- Series 2016-A, Class B rated BBB (sf)

The ratings are based on a review by DBRS of the following analytical considerations:

-- The transaction’s form and sufficiency of available credit enhancement.
-- The quality and credit characteristics of the student loan borrowers.
-- Structural features of the transaction that require the Class A Notes to enter into full turbo principal amortization if certain performance triggers are breached or if credit enhancement deteriorates.
-- Earnest’s capabilities in regard to originations, underwriting and servicing.
-- The benefits offered by the existence of a hot back-up servicer.
-- The legal structure and expected legal opinions that will address the true sale of the student loans, the non-consolidation of the trust and that the trust has a valid first-priority security interest in the assets, and the consistency with the DBRS “Legal Criteria for U.S. Structured Finance” methodology.

Notes:
These ratings are endorsed by DBRS Ratings Limited for use in the European Union.

The applicable methodology is Rating U.S. Private Student Loan Securitizations, which can be found on our website under Methodologies.