DBRS Morningstar Confirms All Ratings of CLNC 2019-FL1, Ltd.

DBRS Limited (DBRS Morningstar) confirmed its ratings on all classes of notes (the Notes) issued by CLNC 2019-FL1, Ltd. (the Issuer) as follows:

-- Class A Notes at AAA (sf)
-- Class A-S Notes at AAA (sf)
-- Class B Notes at AA (low) (sf)
-- Class C Notes at A (low) (sf)
-- Class D Notes at BBB (sf)
-- Class E Notes at BBB (low) (sf)
-- Class F Notes at BB (low) (sf)
-- Class G Notes at B (low) (sf)

All trends are Stable.

The rating confirmations reflect the overall performance of the transaction, which has remained in line with DBRS Morningstar’s expectations. In conjunction with this press release, DBRS Morningstar has published a Rating Report with in-depth analysis and credit metrics for the transaction and business plan updates on select loans. For access to this report, please click on the link under Related Documents below or contact us at [email protected].

The pool’s collateral initially consisted of 21 floating-rate loans secured by cash flowing assets, many of which were in a period of transition with plans to stabilize and improve asset values. At issuance, the cut-off balance was $1.0 billion, with an additional $124.9 million of available future funding commitments held outside of the trust. During the 24-month reinvestment period, the Issuer may acquire future funding commitments and additional loans subject to the relevant eligibility criteria.

As of the August 2021 remittance, there are 24 loans in the pool with an aggregate principal balance of $1.0 billion. Since issuance, 10 loans were repaid and 13 loans were added to the pool during the reinvestment period. As of August 2021, the pool has $91.2 million of future funding commitments outstanding. The reinvestment period expires in October 2021, at which point the transaction will pay sequentially. There are no loans in special servicing or on the servicer’s watchlist. According to the servicer’s report, there are three loans, representing 10.0% of the pool, that were modified with terms generally ranging from a temporary forbearance of deposits to tax, insurance and replacement reserves, maturity extensions and changes to the interest rate spread. However, based on the updates provided by the collateral manager, several loans were previously modified and were generally a direct result of hardships brought about by the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic, while one loan, Paragon LIC, requested a modification after leasing momentum stalled following Amazon’s withdrawal of its plans to locate its second headquarters at the nearby One Court Square property.

ESG CONSIDERATIONS
A description of how DBRS Morningstar considers ESG factors within the DBRS Morningstar analytical framework can be found in the DBRS Morningstar Criteria: Approach to Environmental, Social, and Governance Risk Factors in Credit Ratings at https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/373262.

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

The DBRS Viewpoint platform provides additional information on this transaction and underlying loans including DBRS Morningstar metrics, commentary, servicer-reported cash flows, and other performance-related data.

For complimentary access to this content, please register for the DBRS Viewpoint platform at www.viewpoint.dbrsmorningstar.com The platform includes issuer and servicer data for most outstanding CMBS transactions (including non-DBRS Morningstar rated), as well as loan-level and transaction-level commentary for most DBRS Morningstar-rated and -monitored transactions.

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

The principal methodology is North American CMBS Surveillance Methodology (March 26, 2021), which can be found on dbrsmorningstar.com under Methodologies & Criteria. For a list of the structured-finance-related methodologies that may be used during the rating process, please see the DBRS Morningstar Global Structured Finance Related Methodologies document, which can be found on dbrsmorningstar.com in the Commentary tab under Regulatory Affairs. 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.

For more information regarding rating methodologies and Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19), please see the following DBRS Morningstar press release: https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/357883.

For more information regarding structured finance rating methodologies and Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19), please see the following DBRS Morningstar press release: https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/358308.

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 [email protected].

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

Please see the related appendix for additional information regarding the sensitivity of assumptions used in the rating process. Please note a sensitivity analysis is not performed for CMBS bonds rated CCC or lower. The DBRS Morningstar long-term rating scale definition indicates that ratings of CCC or lower are assigned when the bond is highly likely to default or default is imminent, thereby prevailing over a sensitivity analysis.

For more information on this credit or on this industry, visit www.dbrsmorningstar.com or contact us at [email protected].

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