Merrill Lynch Puttable FLOATs/RITES Trust puttable floating option tax-exempt receipts series PA-1256, relating to Minnesota Housing Finance Agency single-family mortgage bonds 1996 series F, are rated 'AA+/A-1'. The long-term component of the rating is based on the underlying bond. The short-term component of the rating is based on a liquidity guarantee from Merrill Lynch&Co. Inc., and the expiration date of the liquidity facility is April 15, 2005. Complete ratings information is available to subscribers of RatingsDirect, Standard&Poor's Web-based credit analysis system, at www.ratingsdirect.com. All ratings affected by this rating action can be found on Standard&Poor's public Web site at www.standardandpoors.com; under Credit Ratings in the left navigation bar, select Find Ratings, then Credit Ratings
