Exhibit 99


                  Susan B. Railey
                  For shareholders and securities brokers
                  (301) 468-3120
                  James T. Pastore
                  For news media
                  (202) 546-6451                     FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

      CRIIMI MAE Commercial Mortgage Trust Series 1998-C1 New CMBS Ratings

Rockville,  MD,  September 24, 2004 - - CRIIMI MAE Inc.  (NYSE:  CMM) today
announced  that Standard & Poor's  Ratings  Services (S&P) raised the ratings on
eight  classes  of   certificates,   lowered  the  ratings  on  two  classes  of
certificates  and affirmed the ratings on two classes of certificates  issued by
CRIIMI MAE Commercial  Mortgage Trust Series 1998-C1  (CRIIMI MAE 1998-C1,  also
referred to as CBO-2 in the Company's SEC filings).

S&P  announced on September 22, 2004 that it had raised the ratings on four
publicly offered classes of certificates from CRIIMI MAE 1998-C1 as follows:

            -----Rating-----
 Class      To         From
 -----      --         ----
 A-1        AAA        A+
 A-2        AAA        A+
 B          AAA        BBB+
 C          AAA        BBB

S&P stated in its release  that the raised  ratings  reflect the  continued
seasoning of the underlying  mortgage pools and S&P's future loss  expectations.
S&P  further  stated that they  evaluated  the  specially  serviced  loans,  the
delinquent loans, and other relevant information provided by CRIIMI MAE Services
L.P., the Company's  servicing  subsidiary,  in its surveillance  review and the
result of the analysis adequately supports the raised ratings.

In addition, S&P changed the following ratings in effect for the CRIIMI MAE
1998-C1 certificates that were not initially publicly offered:

            -----Rating-----
 Class      To         From
 -----      --         ----
 D-1        BBB-       BB+
 D-2        BBB-       BB+
 E          BB+        BB
 F          BB         BB-
 H-1        B-         B
 H-2        B-         B

The  Class  G  certificate  and  the  rated  portion  of the  owners  trust
certificates of CRIIMI MAE 1998-C1 were affirmed at B+ and CCC, respectively.

2

Certificate  ratings are just one of various  factors that the Company uses
to determine the fair values of its CMBS  portfolio.  As more fully described in
the  Company's  SEC report on Form 10-Q in Notes 3 and 4 for the  quarter  ended
June 30, 2004, the  determination  of fair values for its CMBS portfolio is also
impacted by, among other factors,  U.S.  Treasury  yields,  CMBS spreads and the
credit  fundamentals  of  the  commercial   properties  securing  each  pool  of
underlying  commercial mortgage loans. At each quarter,  the Company takes these
factors into consideration in the fair value  determination  which when compiled
and  evaluated in total may increase or decrease the fair value of the Company's
CMBS. Therefore, the Company's analysis of the changed ratings will be reflected
in its  determination  of the fair  value of the CMBS at the end of the  current
quarter.

CRIIMI MAE Inc. is a commercial mortgage company structured as a REIT. CRIIMI
MAE owns and manages a significant portfolio of commercial mortgage-related
assets. Historically, CRIIMI MAE's primary focus was acquiring high-yielding,
non-investment grade commercial mortgage-backed securities (subordinated CMBS).
The Company's investment focus for the balance of 2004 and beyond is an
origination-based plan for new business.

For further information about the Company, see the Company's Web site:
www.criimimaeinc.com. Shareholders and securities brokers should contact
Shareholder Services at (301) 816-2300, e-mail shareholder@criimimaeinc.com, and
news media should contact James Pastore, Pastore Communications Group LLC, at
(202) 546-6451, e-mail pastore@ix.netcom.com.

Note: Forward-looking statements or statements that contain the words "believe,"
"anticipate," "expect," "contemplate," "may," "will" and similar and projections
contained in this release involve a variety of risks and uncertainties. These
risks are set forth from time to time in the Company's SEC reports, including
its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the most recent year and Quarterly Report on
Form 10-Q for the most recent quarter. Such statements are subject to these
risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially
from those anticipated. CRIIMI MAE assumes no obligation to update or supplement
forward-looking statements that become untrue because of subsequent events.

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