Underwriters use different criteria.
Some underwrite junk, others are actually good quality. My firm, the California Plan of Church Finance, is the oldest underwriter of church bonds in the West, and one of the top three or four underwriters in both quality and volume. Our underwriting guidelines are very conservative. As a result, we have never seen a foreclosure on any issue we've underwritten since we began in 1948. In addition, virtually all of the bonds we underwrite are First Mortgage Bonds, secured by trust deeds on the property.