Justice Saliann Scarpulla

RMBS Contract Claims Against Trustee Dismissed in Part

On October 2, 2015, Justice Saliann Scarpulla of the New York Supreme Court issued an Opinion and Order partially granting Bank of New York Mellon’s (“BNYM”) Motion to Dismiss an RMBS action brought by Commerce Bank and other RMBS investors (together, the “Plaintiffs”).  Justice Scarpulla dismissed Plaintiffs’ breach of fiduciary duty claim as well as Plaintiffs’ breach of contract claim to the extent it relies on allegations that BNYM failed to provide Plaintiffs with notice of events of default under the transaction documents.  Justice Scarpulla stated that a Trustee’s obligation to notify certificateholders of an event of default under the relevant Pooling and Servicing Agreements arises only upon the receipt of written notice that a default has occurred, and that Plaintiffs failed to allege that BNYM had received such written notice.  Justice Scarpulla permitted claims that BNYM had failed to notify certificateholders of breaches of representations and warranties to proceed, but noted that Plaintiffs will ultimately be required to prove the Trustees’ actual discovery of those breaches on a loan-by-loan basis.  Justice Scarpulla also permitted breach of contract claims based on BNYM’s alleged failure to properly review and examine the loan files and accurately certify what it had received, as well as claims alleging negligence by BNYM.  Order.