NEW YORK, Jan. 5, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Morningstar Credit Ratings, LLC today assigned its MOR RS2 residential mortgage prime and nonprime servicer rankings to The Money Source Inc. (TMS). Morningstar also assigned its MOR RV3 residential vendor ranking to TMS as a third-party residential mortgage subservicer. Morningstar's forecast for both rankings is Stable.

TMS is a national correspondent, retail, and wholesale mortgage lender established in 1997. In 2015, TMS developed a loan servicing platform to ultimately board and service more than 39,000 loans previously serviced by a third-party firm and service all future loans originated and serviced by TMS. In building its own platform, the company has assembled a highly seasoned management team whose goal is to develop a loan servicing environment designed to be compliant with local, state, and federal loan servicing guidelines, regulations, and industry best practices as it executes its ambitious growth plan.

Although TMS has a brief history as a loan servicer, management has developed comprehensive policies and procedures, a robust training environment, and effective third-party vendor management performance assessment protocols. An enterprisewide risk management approach consists of quality control testing performed by a third-party firm in conjunction with TMS resources, a loan servicing audit performed by a third-party firm, internal monitoring and feedback of call center interaction with borrowers, and a self-risk-assessment process to identify process gaps and promote best practices. The company underwent its first full loan servicing audit by an independent third party in 2016; however, the results are not yet available to Morningstar.

TMS has an effective technology environment anchored by a loan servicing technology platform provided by a third party. The company has developed a robust proprietary data warehouse that can query data from its main servicing platform as well as any ancillary systems, providing extensive ad-hoc reporting capabilities for management. The company's two servicing locations in Meriden, Connecticut, and Tempe, Arizona, consist of mirrored servicing functions providing geographical and operational redundancies in the event of an interruption in business. TMS will conduct its first full disaster recovery test in the first quarter of 2017 and will incorporate pandemic contingency planning in its business continuity plan.

In 2016, the company launched its residential loan subservicing program providing private label subservicing to clients. TMS provides customized invoicing and billing statements, a client relations team dedicated to that client's unique business requirements, and a staffing model that provides ample ramp-up time when onboarding new subserviced loans.

Additionally, TMS' data warehouse technology provides clients with a performance management dashboard as well as standard and ad-hoc reporting for clients to manage their portfolios. The company recently received approval to subservice loans for Ginnie Mae mortgage servicing rightsholders and is currently subservicing a small portfolio of residential mortgage loans for a third-party client.

As of Nov. 30, 2016, TMS has serviced 71,807 residential mortgage loans representing an unpaid principal balance of more than $15 billion.

To access Morningstar's operational risk assessments methodology and all published reports, please visit www.morningstarcreditratings.com.

Morningstar rankings, forecasts, and assessments contained in this press release are not assessments of the creditworthiness of an obligor or a security and thus are not credit ratings subject to NRSRO regulations.

About Morningstar Credit Ratings, LLC and Morningstar, Inc.
Morningstar Credit Ratings, LLC is a nationally recognized statistical rating organization (NRSRO) offering a wide array of services including new-issue ratings and analysis, operational risk assessments, surveillance services, data, and technology solutions. Morningstar Credit Ratings, LLC is a subsidiary of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ: MORN).

Morningstar, Inc. is a leading provider of independent investment research in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. The company offers an extensive line of products and services for individual investors, financial advisors, asset managers, and retirement plan providers and sponsors. Morningstar provides data on nearly 540,000 investment offerings, including stocks, mutual funds, and similar vehicles, along with real-time global market data on approximately 18.5 million equities, indexes, futures, options, commodities, and precious metals, in addition to foreign exchange and Treasury markets. Morningstar also offers investment management services through its investment advisory subsidiaries, with more than $200 billion in assets under advisement and management as of Sept. 30, 2016. The company has operations in 27 countries.

Morningstar, Inc. is not an NRSRO and does not issue NRSRO credit ratings.

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Media Contact:

Vanessa Sussman, +1 646 560-4541 or vanessa.sussman@morningstar.com

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SOURCE Morningstar Credit Ratings, LLC