Standard & Poor’s raised its ratings on SN Servicing Corp from ‘average’ to ‘above average’ for its residential mortgage special servicing and residential mortgage subprime servicing. As a special servicer, SN Servicing specializes in servicing distressed residential mortgages. The servicer operates under the Security National Master Holding Company, which as of June 2007 held $2.25bn of total assets comprising loan portfolios. The upgrades by S&P late last week reflect SN Servicing’s improved operations, including a new business plan involving third-party servicing, enhanced training environment, improved auditing controls and resolution of previous information technology audit issues, according to a statement by S&P. The rating agency also revised its outlook on the servicer to stable from developing, indicating the company is improving its control environment. Future business opportunities and an increased portfolio will likely arise from this changed environment, S&P said. “The company’s internal auditing function is now fully independent of loan servicing and reports to an auditing committee,” the ratings agency said in the ratings announcement. “In order to further strengthen controls, the department is currently implementing a quality control audit of non-HUD loans and has undertaken SAS 70 readiness review testing in preparation for a full exam in the future.” Write to Diana Golobay.