- advised on more than $3.5 billion in breach of representation and warranty and early payment default disputes involving residential and commercial loans for leading investment banks and CMBS special servicers;
- represented investments banks in more than 20 loan repurchase litigations and negotiated and documented more than 100 settlements;
- recently drafted the Mortgage Bankers Association’s model mediation rules for commercial loan repurchase claims;
- structured customized settlements between investment banks, as issuers and underwriters, and monoline insurers that wrapped securitizations in connection with loan repurchase requests;
- represented indenture trustees in mortgage loan repurchase litigation filed by securitization investors;
- represented industry participants, including a national home builder, in multiple regulatory investigations focusing on loan origination/underwriting practices;
- represented monoline insurers in conducting due diligence on mortgage loan pools and creating statistical sampling models;
- handled large-scale non-party discovery requests and subpoenas in connection with threatened loan repurchase requests; and
- monitored pending mortgage loan repurchase litigation on behalf of hedge fund clients in connection with their credit default swap positions.
We know the industry and understand the key issues at play in loan repurchase disputes: legal standing, promptness of notice, interplay of mortgage loan purchase/sale and securitization documentation, the application and interpretation of representations and warranties, the determination of material and adverse effect on the loan’s value, and related issues.
More broadly, in connection with securitization and mortgage-related litigation, we have represented almost every type of market player—loan originators, servicers, underwriters, issuers, investors, indenture trustees, collateral managers, mono-line insurers, rating agencies and swap counterparties—and have handled disputes arising from the entire spectrum of asset classes, securitization vehicles and related derivative products.