Fitch Ratings gave The Bank of New York Mellon (BK) its highest master servicer rating on non-agency residential mortgage-backed securities. Fitch specifically gave the bank props for upping its operational procedures and loan modification controls within the segment. The ratings giant gave Fitch an “RMS1” residential master servicer rating, saying it also reflects the company’s strong management experience and efforts to grow the training of its staff. Master servicers collect interest payments on debt products on behalf of a trustee. The firms will also service the debt in the case of delinquencies and default. Often, the day-to-day responsibilities are outsourced further, with the master servicer acting as manager to the subservicer. “BNYM continued to make enhancements to its control, reporting and monitoring capabilities for modified loans and has increased its oversight functionalities over the primary servicers’ activities due to the prevailing industry environment,” Fitch said. By June 30, BNYM was functioning as master servicer for 65,947 loans valued at $12.15 billion. Its portfolio included $2.1 billion in subprime; $4.9 billion in prime; $3 billion in Alt-A , $102.2 million in reverse and $1.9 billion in GSE loans. BNYM now oversees 40 servicers and manages 147 non-agency RMBS transactions, according to Fitch. Write to Kerri Panchuk.