Morgan Stanley Capital I Trust 2020-HR8 -- Moody's assigns provisional ratings to 18 CMBS classes of Morgan Stanley Capital I Trust 2020-HR8

Rating Action: Moody's assigns provisional ratings to 18 CMBS classes of Morgan Stanley Capital I Trust 2020-HR8

Global Credit Research - 20 Jul 2020

Approximately $519.9 million of structured securities affected

New York, July 20, 2020 -- Moody's Investors Service, ("Moody's") has assigned provisional ratings to 18 classes of CMBS securities, issued by Morgan Stanley Capital I Trust 2020-HR8, Commercial Mortgage Pass-Through Certificates, Series 2020-HR8

Cl. A-1, Assigned (P)Aaa (sf)

Cl. A-SB, Assigned (P)Aaa (sf)

Cl. A-3, Assigned (P)Aaa (sf)

Cl. A-4, Assigned (P)Aaa (sf)

Cl. X-A*, Assigned (P)Aaa (sf)

Cl. A-S, Assigned (P)Aa2 (sf)

Cl. A-3-1**, Assigned (P)Aaa (sf)

Cl. A-3-X1****, Assigned (P)Aaa (sf)

Cl. A-3-2**, Assigned (P)Aaa (sf)

Cl. A-3-X2****, Assigned (P)Aaa (sf)

Cl. A-4-1**, Assigned (P)Aaa (sf)

Cl. A-4-X1****, Assigned (P)Aaa (sf)

Cl. A-4-2**, Assigned (P)Aaa (sf)

Cl. A-4-X2****, Assigned (P)Aaa (sf)

Cl. A-S-1**, Assigned (P)Aa2 (sf)

Cl. A-S-X1****, Assigned (P)Aa2 (sf)

Cl. A-S-2**, Assigned (P)Aa2 (sf)

Cl. A-S-X2****, Assigned (P)Aa2 (sf)

* Reflects interest-only classes

** Reflects exchangeable classes

**** Reflects interest-only and exchangeable classes

RATINGS RATIONALE

The Certificates are collateralized by 43 fixed rate loans secured by 76 properties. The ratings are based on the collateral and the structure of the transaction and the assigned Structured Credit Assessment of:

An SCA of baa1 (sca.pd) is assigned to the 525 Market Street loan, which represents 5.8% of the pool balance. The loan is secured by the borrower's fee simple interest in a Class A, 38-story, 1.0 million SF office tower located in the South Financial District of San Francisco, CA.

An SCA of a1 (sca.pd) is assigned to the Bellagio Hotel and Casino loan, which represents approximately 5.6% of the pool balance. The loan is secured by the borrower's fee simple and leasehold interests in a full-service, 3,933 room, luxury resort and casino located in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Moody's approach to rating CMBS deals combines both commercial real estate and structured finance analysis. Based on commercial real estate analysis, Moody's determines the credit quality of each mortgage loan and calculates an expected loss on a loan specific basis. Under structured finance, the credit enhancement for each certificate typically depends on the expected frequency, severity, and timing of future losses. Moody's also considers a range of qualitative issues as well as the transaction's structural and legal aspects. The credit risk of loans is determined primarily by two factors: 1) Moody's assessment of the probability of default, which is largely driven by each loan's DSCR, and 2) Moody's assessment of the severity of loss upon a default, which is largely driven by each loan's LTV ratio. The Moody's Actual DSCR of 2.28x (1.88x excluding SCAs) is higher than the 2019 conduit transaction average of 1.70x (1.56x excluding SCAs). The Moody's Stressed DSCR of 0.96x (0.85x excluding SCAs) is slightly lower than the 2019 conduit transaction average of 0.99x (0.93x excluding SCAs). The pooled trust loan balance of $690,955,373 represents a Moody's LTV ratio of 114.3% (117.8% excluding SCAs), which is better than the 2019 conduit/fusion transaction average of 115.4% (122.2% excluding SCAs).There are two loans in the pool structured with additional debt in the form of subordinate debt or mezzanine debt. With the additional debt, the Moody's total debt LTV ratio rises to 122.2% excluding SCAs. Moody's also considers both loan level diversity and property level diversity when selecting a ratings approach. With respect to loan level diversity, the pool's loan level Herfindahl score is 21.6 (19.7 excluding SCAs) which is below the 2019 transaction average score of 32.8. With respect to property level diversity, the pool's property Herfindahl score of 29.3 is well below the 2019 transaction average score of 40.4. Notable strengths of the transaction include: having two loans (11.4% of the pool balance) assigned an investment-grade Structured Credit Assessments (SCAs), high multifamily concentration (38.7% of the pool balance), major market concentration and loans representing acquisition financing.