FITCH RATES VHFA BOND RESOLUTION ‘A+’

BURLINGTON, VT  Fitch Ratings has assigned an “A+” rating to Vermont Housing Finance Agency’s 1990 single-family housing bond resolution. Fitch has labeled its rating outlook “stable.” Fitch’s long-term credit ratings operate on a 10-grade scale from “AAA,” the highest-quality investment grade bond, to “D,” the lowest category junk bond. The resolution, which includes approximately $447 million in outstanding bonds in Series 9 through 27, was created in 1990 and issued bonds from 1990 to 2007. This is Fitch's initial rating assignment for the resolution. “We’re pleased with Fitch’s rating, and think it’s a demonstration of the rating agency’s faith in the long-term viability of VHFA,” said Executive Director Sarah Carpenter. “The loan portfolio consists of 30-year fixed-rate seasoned loans. The majority, 53 percent, is privately insured. The second largest portion, 27 percent, is uninsured with safe loan-to-value ratios of 80 percent or lower. All this minimizes potential loss exposure,” she added. Fitch credits VHFA’s “successful history of administering its single-family programs.” Fitch Ratings Ltd., with headquarters in New York and London, is a global rating agency that provides the world’s credit markets with independent and prospective credit opinions, research, and data. The company is part of the Fitch Group, a majority-owned subsidiary of Fimalac S.A., which is headquartered in Paris, France. The Vermont Legislature created VHFA in 1974 to finance and promote affordable housing opportunities for lowand moderate-income Vermonters. Since its inception, the Agency has helped approximately 26,500 Vermont households with affordable mortgages and financed the development of approximately 7,700 affordable rental units.