It has been a bad month for nationally recognized statistical rating organizations (NRSROs) as plaintiffs pummeled Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s Corp. and Fitch Ratings with lawsuits in state courts, seeking damages for allegedly fraudulent investment ratings of pre-crisis non-agency MBS. On July 9, liquidators of two Bear Stearns funds sued the three rating agencies and their parent companies in New York state court for more than $1.12 billion in damages, as well as punitive damages, over allegedly inflated ratings of purportedly “high grade” securities. Geoffrey Varga and Mark Longbottom, the joint official liquidators of Bear Stearns, brought...[Includes one data chart]

Redwood Trust, not surprisingly, was the top jumbo MBS issuer in the first half of 2013, according to exclusive rankings from Inside MBS & ABS.

Not only are nonperforming residential mortgages being placed into new securities, but so are re-performing loans.

Fear and loathing in the mortgage job market? Movement Mortgage has let several mortgage workers go. Can looser underwriting standards save the day?

Jumbo originations increased at First Republic Bank, but its mortgage gain-on-sale margin took a hit.

Flagstar hopes to unload $30 billion in residential servicing rights, but is contemplating selling even more in the way of MSRs.

The steady recovery in prime jumbo securitizations and financing needs of nonbank mortgage servicers fueled a modest increase in non-agency MBS issuance during the second quarter of 2013, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS ranking and analysis. A total of $10.08 billion of non-agency MBS were issued during the second quarter, up 17.6 percent from the first three months of the year. It was the strongest three-month output in two years and lifted year-to-date issuance to $18.66 billion, a 119.0 percent increase over the same period in 2012. Re-securitizations of seasoned non-agency MBS have tapered...[Includes two data charts]

Mortgage Master continued its dominance in Massachusetts mortgage lending. Jumbo loan production swelled by 65 percent.

Mortgage firms issued $4.34 billion of non-agency jumbo MBS in the second quarter of 2013, with deals from five issuers, both quarterly highs in the new non-agency era.

Warehouse lenders hold the key to liquidity in the non-prime and private money sectors.