On July 25, 2016, Justice Marcy Friedman of the New York Supreme Court dismissed a $619 million suit brought by U.S. Bank in its capacity as Trustee of an RMBS trust against the originator of the loans, Equifirst, Barclays' now-defunct mortgage originator. The Federal Housing Finance Agency ("FHFA"), as conservator of an RMBS certificateholder, initially filed the summons with notice on February 28, 2013, the six-year anniversary of the securitization's closing date. U.S. Bank waited another six months before filing the complaint on October 28, 2013. U.S. Bank brought claims for breach of contract for Equifirst's alleged misrepresentations regarding the quality of the underlying mortgage loans, and breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing arising from an alleged failure to notify contractual counterparties of Equifirst's alleged breaches. Relying on a recent intermediate appellate decision and her orders in similar cases, Justice Friedman dismissed those claims holding that FHFA, as a certificateholder, lacked standing to commence the action, and that the Trustee's complaint, which was filed after the passage of the statute of limitations, did not relate back to FHFA's summons with notice. The court granted U.S. Bank leave to replead its failure to notify claims. Order.
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