Standard&Poor's Ratings Services lowered its ratings on nine housing bonds to 'BBB+' from 'AA' as a result of Standard&Poor's downgrade of MBIA Insurance Corp. to 'BBB+' from 'AA'. All of the issues receive partial support in the form of guaranteed investment contracts or investment agreements from MBIA Insurance Corp. Standard&Poor's examined all local housing bond issues with partial credit support from MBIA taking several factors into consideration. Some issues were not affected because their current ratings can still be supported by credit supports from MBIA and other factors. For local issuers, which represent the majority of the affected ratings, Standard&Poor's looked at the reliance on the insurer's credit support.
