[Hunton & Williams Letterhead] Exhibit 8.3 ----------- December 17, 1999 National Mortgage Securities Corporation 909 East Main Street Richmond, Virginia 23219 Gentlemen: We have acted as counsel to National Mortgage Securities Corporation, a Virginia corporation (the "Company"), in connection with the preparation of the Company's Registration Statement on Form S-3 (the "Registration Statement"), filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Act"), for the registration under the Act of $300,000,000 aggregate principal amount of Pass-Through Certificates (the "Certificates") and Asset-Backed Notes representing interests in one or more trusts (each a "Trust") to be established by the Company. The Certificates of each Trust will be issued pursuant to a form of Pooling and Master Servicing Agreement, including Standard Terms thereto, among the Company, a trustee to be named therein, and a servicer to be named therein (a "Pooling and Servicing Agreement"). We have reviewed the originals or copies of (i) the Articles of Incorporation, By-laws, and other organizational documents of the Company; (ii) certain resolutions of the Board of Directors of the Company; (iii) the Pooling and Servicing Agreement, including the forms of the Certificates annexed thereto; (iv) the Registration Statement and the prospectus included therein; and (v) such other documents as we have deemed necessary or appropriate as a basis for the opinions set forth below. Based on the foregoing, we adopt and confirm that the legal conclusions contained in the Registration Statement under the caption "Federal Income Tax Consequences" are our opinion as to the material federal income tax consequences associated with the purchase, ownership and disposition of the Certificates. We also are of the opinion that, with respect to the issuance of the Certificates of a Trust for which no election to be treated as a real estate mortgage investment National Mortgage Securities Corporation December 17, 1999 Page 2 conduit or as a financial asset securitization investment trust is to be made, if (i) the Company, the Trustee, and the other parties to the issuance transaction comply (without waiver) with all of the provisions of the Pooling and Servicing Agreement and certain other documents to be prepared and executed in connection with such transaction and (ii) the Certificates are issued and sold as described in the Registration Statement and the prospectus supplement to be issued in connection with the Trust, the Trust will be classified as either a grantor trust under Subpart E, Part 1 of subchapter J of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the "Code"), or a partnership under subchapter k of the Code, and not as an association taxable as a corporation. You should be aware that the above opinions represent our conclusions as to the application of existing law to the transaction described above. There can be no assurance that contrary positions will not be taken by the Internal Revenue Service or that the law will not change. We hereby consent to the filing of this opinion as an exhibit to the Registration Statement. We also consent to the references to Hunton & Williams under the caption "Federal Income Tax Consequences" in the Prospectus. In giving this consent, we do not admit that we are in the category of persons whose consent is required by Section 7 of the Act or the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder by the Securities and Exchange Commission. No opinion has been sought and none has been given concerning the tax treatment of the issuance and sale of the Certificates under the laws of any state. Very truly yours, /s/ Hunton & Williams