The latest lawsuit includes Bear Stearns, Washington Mutual and other affiliates as defendants, Allstate said.

The banks misled the insurer with “untrue statements” and omissions of material facts about the securities, purchased between 2005 and 2008, Allstate said. The total purchase price of the securities was $757.5 million.

Allstate seeks damages including rescission, monetary losses, attorneys’ fees and costs and prejudgment interest, the insurer said.

Last month, Gerald Silk, a partner for Bernstein Litowitz in New York, predicted an uptick in litigation related to residential mortgage backed securities, and he pointed to Allstate as a prime example. “I think you’re going to see more RMBS litigation now as we’re coming up on statutes of limitations, depending on the claims and the state,” Mr. Silk said at the time. “More and more and more RMBS litigation will unfold, and Allstate is a good example of that,” he noted, referring to Allstate’s litigation against Countrywide.

Last September, Ambac filed suit against Bank of America over the lending practices of Countrywide. Ambac, which wrote financial guaranty insurance policies for Countrywide, said it identified about 6,360 loans with an aggregate principal balance of $658 million that violated the company's guidelines.