BREACH OF CONTRACT ACTIONS BY CERTIFICATEHOLDERS AGAINST THE TRUSTEE FOR RESIDENTIAL MORTGAGE BACKED SECURITIES TRUSTS DISMISSED (FIRST DEPT).
The First Department, in a full-fledged opinion by Justice Pitt, reversing (modifying) Supreme Court, dismissed the remaining actions brought by certificateholders against the trustee (US Bank National Association) for residential mortgage backed securities (RMBS) trusts. The opinion is fact-specific, based upon contract language, and cannot be fairly summarized here:
This case involves residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS). Usually, this type of case is filed by an RMBS trustee because they are generally the only party with standing to assert the trust’s right to compel repurchase of defective loans and to take action against the parties responsible for the improper servicing of loans. Here, however, plaintiffs, as certificateholders of nine RMBS trusts, bring this action for breach of contract against defendant U.S. Bank National Association, as trustee of the nine RMBS trusts, for failure to carry out its alleged duties as trustee in response to the contractual breaches by other transaction parties. The main issues raised in this appeal are: (1) whether the governing trust documents imposed contractual obligations on the trustee … to identify and take action before an event of default (EOD) arose (pre-EOD claims); and (2) whether plaintiffs may rely on the servicers’ annual assessments and the trustee’s letter to the servicer to satisfy the “written notice” element of the claim that the trustee breached its contractual obligations to take action as a “prudent” trustee after an EOD arose (post-EOD claims). Western & Southern Life Ins. Co. v U.S. Bank N.A., 2022 NY Slip Op 04886, First Dept 8-9-22
Practice Point: Here breach of contract actions by certificateholders against the trustee for residential mortgage backed securities trusts were dismissed.