DBRS Confirms All Classes of Morgan Stanley Bank of America Merrill Lynch Trust 2013-C9

DBRS Limited (DBRS) confirmed the ratings on the following classes of Commercial Mortgage Pass-Through Certificates, Series 2013-C9 issued by Morgan Stanley Bank of America Merrill Lynch Trust 2013-C9 as follows:

-- Class A-2 at AAA (sf)
-- Class A-3 at AAA (sf)
-- Class A-3FL at AAA (sf)
-- Class A-3FX at AAA (sf)
-- Class A-4 at AAA (sf)
-- Class A-AB at AAA (sf)
-- Class A-S at AAA (sf)
-- Class X-A at AAA (sf)
-- Class B at AA (sf)
-- Class X-B at A (high) (sf)
-- Class C at A (sf)
-- Class PST at A (sf)
-- Class D at BBB (sf)
-- Class E at BBB (low) (sf)
-- Class F at BB (high) (sf)
-- Class G at BB (low) (sf)
-- Class H at B (low) (sf)

All trends are Stable.

The rating confirmations reflect the overall stable performance of the transaction since issuance when this transaction consisted of 60 loans secured by 77 properties for a total trust balance of approximately $1.28 billion. As of the March 2017 remittance report, the trust balance was $1.02 billion, representing a collateral reduction of 20.0% resulting from scheduled amortization and loan repayments, with 54 of the original 60 loans remaining in the pool. Loans representing 87.1% of the current pool balance reported partial-year or YE2017 financials. Collectively, these loans reported a weighted-average (WA) debt service coverage ratio (DSCR) and debt yield of 1.62 times (x) and 9.5%, respectively. All of the loans in the top 15, which collectively represent 69.7% of the pool balance, reported YE2016 cash flows, with those figures showing WA net cash flow growth of 10.9% over the DBRS issuance figures, with a WA DSCR of 1.81x compared with the WA DBRS Term DSCR at issuance of 1.63x.

As of the March 2018 remittance report, there are two loans representing 6.3% of the pool on the servicer’s watchlist, and there is one loan in special servicing, representing 0.7% of the pool. Both loans on the watchlist are being monitored for a low DSCR. DBRS assumed a stressed cash flow scenario for both loans in the analysis for this review, increasing the probability of default significantly. The specially serviced loan, Prospectus ID #33 – Hilton Garden Inn Houston Westbelt, was transferred to special servicing in April 2017 for payment default. The loan has since been made current, and the Special Servicer has noted that a return to the Master Servicer is imminent. For additional information on this loan, please see the loan commentary on the DBRS Viewpoint platform, for which information is provided below.

Classes X-A and X-B are interest-only (IO) certificates that reference a single rated tranche or multiple rated tranches. The IO rating mirrors the lowest-rated reference tranche adjusted upward by one notch if senior in the waterfall.

All ratings will be subject to ongoing surveillance, which could result in ratings being upgraded, downgraded, placed under review, confirmed or discontinued by DBRS.

As part of this review, DBRS has provided updated analysis and in-depth commentary in the DBRS Viewpoint platform for the following loans in the transaction:

-- Prospectus ID#1 – Milford Plaza Fee
-- Prospectus ID#4 – Dartmouth Mall
-- Prospectus ID#5 – Apthorp Retail Condominium
-- Prospectus ID#33 – Hilton Garden Inn Houston Westbelt

For complimentary access to this content, please register for the DBRS Viewpoint platform at www.viewpoint.dbrs.com. The platform includes issuer and servicer data for the entire commercial mortgage-backed securities universe, as well as deal and loan-level commentary for all DBRS-rated transactions.

Notes:
All figures are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted.

The principal methodology is CMBS North American Surveillance, which can be found on dbrs.com under Methodologies. For a list of the Structured Finance related methodologies that may be used during the rating process, please see the DBRS Global Structured Finance Related Methodologies document on www.dbrs.com. Please note that not every related methodology listed under a principal Structured Finance asset class methodology may be used to rate or monitor an individual structured finance or debt obligation.

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 under Related Documents or by contacting us at info@dbrs.com.

This rating is endorsed by DBRS Ratings Limited for use in the European Union.

The rated entity or its related entities did participate in the rating process for this rating action. DBRS had access to the accounts and other relevant internal documents of the rated entity or its related entities in connection with this rating action.

For more information on this credit or on this industry, visit www.dbrs.com or contact us at info@dbrs.com.