NY Court: RMBS Statute of Limitations Runs from Time of Securitization

In an important decision for financial institutions and investors in residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS), the New York Court of Appeals unanimously ruled yesterday (June 11, 2015) that claims for breach of representations and warranties made in an RMBS securitization accrue when the representations and warranties are made, which typically occurs when the securitization closes. ACE Securities Corp. v. DB Structured Products, Inc., No. 85 (June 11, 2015) (see our prior memo). The court held that New York’s six-year statute of limitations for breach-of-contract claims thus begins to run at that time—and not when the securitization sponsor refuses, possibly years or decades later, to comply with a securitization trustee’s demand for the contractual remedy of cure or repurchase of non-compliant loans. Accordingly, claims arising out of most pre-financial crisis RMBS securitizations are now time-barred.

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