MBS, Foreclosure Lawsuits Climb in Q1

Mortgage-backed securities (MBS) investors led an increase in mortgage-related lawsuits during the first quarter of 2009, according to a mortgage litigation report issued through PRNewswire on Tuesday. A rise in foreclosure lawsuits also contributed to the increase.
The analysis, prepared by the Washington, D.C.-headquartered mortgage banking law firm of ""Weiner Brodsky Sidman Kider PC"":http://www.wbsk.com and based on active cases covered by ""MortgageDaily.com"":http://www.mortgagedaily.com, reveals that in total, during the first quarter of the year, 81 mortgage-related cases were tracked -- jumping from 46 the prior quarter and 42 during the same time period in 2008.
According to the firm's research, MBS lawsuits jumped to 13 cases from the prior quarter's four. The increase in MBS filings helped push investor class actions to 21 cases -- the most of any type of mortgage-related suit.
Cases tied to foreclosures, including actions against foreclosure-rescue services, leapt to 12 from the prior period's four. And servicing-related lawsuits doubled from the fourth quarter of last year, to six cases reported in Q1 2009.
Compliance suits totaled eight, up from six the previous quarter. Mortgage fraud cases held steady, at five.
Wachovia was named as a defendant in eight of the Q1 cases tracked -- more than any other company. Wachovia's parent Wells Fargo was named in five. Only two lawsuits named Bank of America as a defendant, but its subsidiaries Countrywide and Merrill Lynch were cited in nine. Citigroup, GMAC, and JPMorgan Chase were each named as the defendant in three cases. Washington Mutual, now part of JPMorgan Chase, was identified as the defendant in two suits.
""Weiner Brodsky Sidman Kider PC"":http://www.wbsk.com has a nationwide residential mortgage banking and financial services practice that offers full-service legal representation and counseling for clients. The firm has teams devoted to federal and state licensing and regulatory compliance, transactions, representation before government agencies, and litigation, including the defense of nationwide class action lawsuits against financial institutions and settlement service providers.