ASSIGNMENT TO PLAINTIFF OF ALL RIGHT, TITLE AND INTEREST TO $626 MILLION IN RESIDENTIAL MORTGAGE-BACKED SECURITIES DID NOT SPECIFICALLY MENTION FRAUD CLAIMS; THE RIGHT TO SUE MORGAN STANLEY FOR FRAUD, THEREFORE, WAS NOT ASSIGNED TO PLAINTIFF.
In 2006 and 2007 plaintiff FSAM bought $626 million in residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) from defendant Morgan Stanley. “All right, title and interest” to those securities were then assigned to plaintiff Dexia, which paid FSAM the same amount FSAM paid Morgan Stanley. The plaintiffs, FSAM and Dexia, sued Morgan Stanley, alleging Morgan Stanley knew the RMBS were of poor quality but represented they were prudent AAA-rated securities. The First Department determined the fraud claims did not transfer to Dexia because no specific mention of them was made in the assignment. The court further determined FSAM did not have standing to assert the fraud claims because Dexia paid FSAM for them and FSAM, therefore, could not establish damages:
The Court of Appeals recently explained that “the right to assert a fraud claim related to a contract or note does not automatically transfer with the respective contract or note” … . “Thus, where an assignment of fraud or other tort claims is intended in conjunction with the conveyance of a contract or note, there must be some language — although no specific words are required — that evinces that intent and effectuates the transfer of such rights” … . “Without a valid assignment, only the . . . assignor may rescind or sue for damages for fraud and deceit’ because the representations were made to it and it alone had the right to rely on them” … .
We find that plaintiff FSAM’s agreement to deliver “all right, title and interest” in the RMBS to the Dexia plaintiffs did not include fraud claims, since FSAM only assigned rights in the subject securities without explicitly referencing any related tort claims or the overall transaction between FSAM and defendants … .
Because FSAM received from the Dexia plaintiffs the same amount it originally paid for the securities, FSAM cannot establish damages … . Dexia SA/NV v Stanley, 2016 NY Slip Op 00122, 1st Dept 1-12-16
CONTRACT LAW (FRAUD CLAIMS NOT SPECIFICALLY MENTIONED IN ASSIGNMENT ARE NOT ASSIGNED)/ASSIGNMENTS (FRAUD CLAIMS NOT SPECIFICALLY MENTIONED IN ASSIGNMENT ARE NOT ASSIGNED)/FRAUD (FRAUD CLAIMS NOT SPECIFICALLY MENTIONED IN ASSIGNMENT ARE NOT ASSIGNED)