The government has shifted its resources from civil to criminal mortgage-related cases in recent months. As a result, an industry index that tracks mortgage litigation lawsuits has dropped by more than half.

Active cases totaled 75 in the second-quarter report released this week, which was prepared by Patton Boggs LLP, a mortgage banking litigation firm based in Washington D.C., in conjunction with the industry resource Mortgage Daily.

Activity tumbled 52 percent from the first quarter and was 40 percent lower than a year ago.

As the U.S. Department of Justice executed its nationwide crackdown on mortgage fraud, dubbed Operation Stolen

Dreams, mortgage-related criminal actions have soared, sending a corresponding mortgage fraud index up some 50 percent.

But criminal fraud cases — except those primarily involving an insider at the mortgage lender — are generally excluded from the mortgage litigation index. According to the report issued this week, the reallocation of government resources cut into actions related to modifications, foreclosures, and non-fraud criminal cases, which are included in the litigation index, and helped drag down overall activity.

“Don’t be fooled by what appears to be a lull in the government’s civil litigation efforts against the mortgage industry,” said Anthony Laura, a partner in Patton Boggs’ New Jersey office. “Once federal resources are reallocated in response to the sweeping financial reform legislation passed earlier this year, expect civil enforcement efforts to increase beyond the levels we saw prior to Q2 ’10.”

The firm reported 29 foreclosure-related litigation cases last quarter, 26 investor lawsuits, and 13 associated with mortgage-backed securities (MBS). Eleven litigation cases Patton Boggs also classified as criminal, and nine were related to mortgage servicing.

The firm says a big decline in mortgage insurance litigation was primarily the result of a jump in the prior quarter’s Federal Housing Administration-related activity that didn’t continue into the latest period.