Plaza forced by FASB sale rule to take bigger loss in 3d quarter.

Plaza Home Mortgage Corp. has run afoul of a controversial accounting rule and as a result has had to restate its earnings for the third quarter.

Plaza had reached an agreement to sell servicing rights in the quarter and reported $1.4 million of net income from the deal on Nov. 21.

In preparing its proxy statement for its merger into Fleet Mortgage Group, the company and its auditors decided the income did not qualify for recognition in the third quarter and shifted it to the fourth quarter.

The problem was that the sale contained contingencies that may have precluded booking the profit until they were resolved.

A Sept. 22 statement from the Financial Accounting Standards Board had surprised the industry by taking a narrow interpretation of the rule.

"The criteria have since been met and the company expects to record the sale of these servicing rights in the fourth quarter of 1994," the announcement said.

The shift resulted in a larger net loss for the third quarter: $11.6 million, or 99 cents a share.

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