Category Archives: junior liens

Wells Fargo Asks Court to Reject JPMorgan’s “Ostrich Defense” to CMBS Representation and Warranty Breaches, as Additional Putback Litigation Hits Civil Dockets

Posted on October 2, 2026 by Isaac Gradman

UPDATE: Following the publication of this post, on October 5, 2026, Judge Ho entered an Order (Dkt. 115) denying both parties’ requests for leave to file summary judgment motions, noting that summary judgment would be “inappropriate in these circumstances.” Order … Continue reading →

Posted in allocation of loss, banks, bondholders, Chetrit, CMBS, Complaints, contract rights, CRE, discovery, fraud, gatekeeper litigation, improper documentation, investors, irresponsible lending, JPMorgan, Judicial Opinions, junior liens, knowledge qualifiers, lawsuits, lenders, lending guidelines, litigation, misrespresentation, mortgage fraud, negligence and recklessness, Ostrich Defense, private label MBS, putbacks, rep and warranty, repurchase, responsibility, securitization, sellers and sponsors, summary judgment, underwriting guidelines, underwriting practices, Wells Fargo | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Investor End Games: All Is Not Well in the Garden

Posted on August 29, 2012 by igradman

“As long as the roots are not severed, all is well.  And all will be well in the garden.” – Chance the Gardener, Being There (1979) With Judge Barbara Kapnick announcing earlier this month that the approval hearing in Bank … Continue reading →

Posted in AIG, allocation of loss, ASF, Attorneys General, Bank of New York, banks, BlackRock, Bloomberg, BofA, bondholder actions, causes of the crisis, conflicts of interest, consitutionality, contract rights, costs of the crisis, Countrywide, damages, Deutsche Bank, discovery, eminent domain, fiduciary duties, foreclosure crisis, fraud, global settlement, Grais and Ellsworth, impact of the crisis, incentives, investors, irresponsible lending, Judge Barbara Kapnick, Judge Eileen Bransten, junior liens, Kathy Patrick, lawsuits, lenders, lending guidelines, liabilities, LIBOR manipulation, liquidity, litigation, litigation costs, lobbying, MBIA, MBS, misrespresentation, monoline actions, monolines, mortgage fraud, mortgage insurers, mortgage market, negative equity, Neil Barofsky, private label MBS, procedural hurdles, putbacks, recession, rep and warranty, repurchase, Residential Capital, responsibility, restructuring, RMBS, securities, securitization, sellers and sponsors, settlements, standing, statistical sampling, statutes of limitations, successor liability, summary judgment, The Subprime Shakeout, too big to fail, toxic assets, Treasury, Trustees, underwriting guidelines, underwriting practices, US Bank, vicarious liability, waiver of rights to sue, Wall St., Walnut Place, Way Too Big to Fail, Wells Fargo, William Frey | 2 Comments

Monoline End Games: String of Legal Wins Will Snowball Until Settlement

Posted on July 31, 2012 by igradman

Last week, I wrote about a few developments that should boost RMBS litigation recoveries, especially for bond insurers – Judge Crotty’s summary judgment decision in Syncora v. EMC (JPMorgan) and Syncora’s subsequent settlement with BofA, resolving all of the parties’ … Continue reading →

Posted in allocation of loss, banks, BofA, contract rights, Countrywide, damages, emc, fraud, global settlement, irresponsible lending, JPMorgan, Judge Eileen Bransten, Judge Paul Crotty, Judicial Opinions, junior liens, jury trials, lawsuits, lenders, liabilities, litigation, litigation costs, loss causation, loss estimates, MBIA, MBS, misrespresentation, monoline actions, monolines, mortgage insurers, O'Melveny & Myers, private label MBS, putbacks, rep and warranty, repurchase, RMBS, securitization, settlements, successor liability, summary judgment | 6 Comments

Guest Post: The Migratory Patterns of Yield-Hungry Investors

Posted on April 12, 2012 by igradman

Editor’s Note: in this guest post, former bond insurance insider Steve Ruterman discusses important considerations for investing in private label MBS beyond credit risk analysis, including how investors can benefit from understanding the differences in servicer behavior and business models.  … Continue reading →

Posted in Attorneys General, bondholder actions, conflicts of interest, firing servicers, foreclosure rate, guest posts, hedge funds, incentives, investors, junior liens, loan modifications, loan seasoning, MBIA, MBS, moral hazard, mortgage market, pre-investment due diligence, private label MBS, projecting risk adjusted returns, putbacks, regulation, Regulators, servicer defaults, servicer reports, servicers, subprime | Leave a comment

Under AG Foreclosure Settlement, Servicers Get Credit for Things They’re Supposed to Do

Posted on April 10, 2012 by igradman

Last week, District Court Judge Rosemary Collyer approved the Attorney General Foreclosure Settlement (“AGFS”) without a hearing, and without any objection from investors.  According to the Judge, the Consent Judgment between the nation’s five largest servicers and the Attorneys General … Continue reading →

Posted in Adam Levitin, Ally Bank, Attorneys General, auditing, bailout, Bank of New York, banks, BofA, Citigroup, conflicts of interest, contract rights, costs of the crisis, Countrywide, damages, foreclosure crisis, foreclosure rate, global settlement, homeowner relief, improper documentation, incentives, investors, JPMorgan, junior liens, liabilities, MBS, mortgage market, Neil Barofsky, pooling agreements, press, private label MBS, RMBS, robo-signers, servicer defaults, servicers, settlements, Wells Fargo | 2 Comments