New Jersey Carpenters Health Fund v. Residential Capital, LLC

272 F.R.D. 160, 2011 WL 147735
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedJanuary 18, 2011
DocketNos. 08 CV 8781(HB), 08 CV 5093(HB)
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 272 F.R.D. 160 (New Jersey Carpenters Health Fund v. Residential Capital, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
New Jersey Carpenters Health Fund v. Residential Capital, LLC, 272 F.R.D. 160, 2011 WL 147735 (S.D.N.Y. 2011).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

HAROLD BAER, JR., District Judge.

Plaintiffs in these eases claim violations of sections 11, 12(a)(2) and 15 of the Securities Act of 1933. They allege that the offering documents for securities they purchased were materially- misleading. In particular, they contend that the offering documents were misleading as to whether the residential mortgages comprising the securities were built in conformity with proper underwriting guidelines.

The relevant factual background is detailed in two previous opinions on the motions to dismiss, N.J. Carpenters Health Fund v. Residential Capital, LLC, No. 08 Civ. 8781(HB), 2010 WL 1257528, (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 31, 2010) and N.J. Carpenters Vacation Fund v. Royal Bank of Scot. Group, PLC, 720 F.Supp.2d 254 (S.D.N.Y.2010). Familiarity with those opinions is presumed, and I provide only a brief synopsis of subsequent developments. The Harborview and RALI securities that form the bases for the claims asserted in the Consolidated Amended Complaint were sold in a series of different offerings in 2006 and 2007. Plaintiffs had not purchased securities in every single offering and, following Defendants’ motion to dismiss, the Court sustained only those claims based on offerings in which named plaintiffs had actually purchased securities. Plaintiffs then identified a number of non-parties who had purchased some of the “dismissed” securities, and sought permission for those non-parties to intervene. I granted that motion.

New Jersey Carpenters Vacation Fund and Boilermaker Blacksmith National Pension Trust, Plaintiffs in 08 Civ. 5093 (the “Harborview” case), now seek certification of a class defined as follows:

All persons who purchased Harborview Mortgage Loan Trust, Mortgage Pass-Through Certificates Series 2006-4 (“Har-borview Series 2006-4 Bonds”) and/or Har-borview Mortgage Loan Trust, Mortgage Pass-Through Certificates Series 2007-7 (“Harborview Series 2007-7 Bonds”), pursuant and/or traceable to the registration Statements and accompanying Prospectuses filed with the Securities and Ex[163]*163change Commission (“SEC”) by Greenwich Capital Acceptance, Inc. (“GCA”) (Collectively, the “Offering Documents”) and who were damaged thereby.

New Jersey Carpenters Health Fund, New Jersey Carpenters Vacation Fund and Boilermaker Blacksmith National Pension Trust, Plaintiffs in 08 Civ. 8781 (the “RALI” case), seek certification of a class defined as follows:

All persons who purchased RALI Mortgage Asset-Backed Pass-Through Certificates, Series 2006-Q07 (“RALI Series 2006-Q07 Bonds”), RALI Mortgage Asset-Backed Pass-Through Certificates, Series 2007-QSl(“RALI Series 2007-QS1 Bonds”), RALI Mortgage Asset-Backed Pass-Through Certificates, Series 2007-QH4 (“RALI Series 2007-QH4 Bonds”), and/or RALI Mortgage Asset-Backed Pass-Through Certificates, Series 2007-Q04 (“RALI Series 2007-Q04 Bonds”) (collectively, the “RALI Bonds”), pursuant and/or traeable to the Registration Statements and accompanying Prospectuses filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) by Residential Accredited Loans, Inc. (“RALI”), a subsidiary of Residential Capital, LLC f/k/a Residential Capital Corporation (“RCC”) (collectively, the “Offering Documents”) and who were damaged thereby.

Plaintiffs also move to be appointed class representatives, and for appointment of class counsel. For the reasons that follow, the motions are DENIED.

Discussion

To qualify for class certification, Plaintiffs must prove that the putative class meets the four threshold requirements of Rule 23(a); if those requirements are satisfied, a district court may grant certification if the class is maintainable under at least one of the subsections of Rule 23(b). See Teamsters Local 445 Freight Div. Pension Fund v. Bombardier Inc., 546 F.3d 196, 202 (2d Cir. 2008). A plaintiff must satisfy the requirements of Rule 23 by a “preponderance of the evidence.” Id. Courts must engage in a “rigorous analysis” to determine whether a plaintiff has met this burden. In re Initial Pub. Offerings Sec. Litig., 471 F.3d 24, 36 (2d Cir.2006).

I. RULE 23(a) REQUIREMENTS

To satisfy Rule 23(a), Plaintiffs must prove four elements by a preponderance of the evidence: (1) numerosity, (2) commonality, (3) typicality, and (4) adequate representation. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(a). Each element will be addressed in turn.

A. Numerosity

Numerosity requires that the proposed class be so large that joinder of individual members would be “inconvenient or difficult.” J.P. Morgan Chase Cash Balance Litig., 242 F.R.D. 265, 272 (S.D.N.Y.2007). In the Second Circuit a proposed class of 40 members presumptively satisfies numerosity. See, e.g., Consol. Rail Corp. v. Town of Hyde Park, 47 F.3d 473, 483 (2d Cir.1995).

Harborview’s proposed class includes, at a conservative estimate, at least 64 unique purchasers of Harborview Series 2006-4 and at least 101 unique purchasers of Harborview Series 2007-7. Harborview Ferri Rep. ¶¶ 17, 69. RALI’s proposed class includes over 600 unique entities that purchased the RALI bonds during the relevant period. See Ferri Rebuttal Rep. ¶¶ 11; 60-63.

Harborview Defendants argue that each Lead Plaintiff may only represent purchasers of those tranches each Lead Plaintiff purchased; Plaintiffs have failed to identify numbers of proposed class members by tranche and have therefore not shown nu-merosity. Similarly, the RALI Defendants argue that numerosity is not satisfied as to each tranche of each offering. Neither group of Defendants provides authority for such a requirement, and since Plaintiffs in both cases can point to identifiable — indeed named — members of the proposed classes, the Defendants have failed to overcome the presumption of numerosity.

The RALI Defendants contend that the class members’ sophistication and resources defeats numerosity. This argument is unavailing, particularly in light of recent precedent finding no problem with numerosity where five of the 76 purported class members had suffered approximately 80% of the [164]*164total alleged losses. See Bd. of Trs. of the AFTRA Ret. Fund v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., 269 F.R.D. 340, 342 (S.D.N.Y. 2010). Defendants have failed to overcome the presumption of numerosity.

B. Commonality

Neither the Harborview Defendants nor the RALI Defendants challenge this prong, and Plaintiffs easily demonstrate that their claims share common questions of both law and fact with absent class members. See J.P. Morgan Chase, 242 F.R.D. at 272.

C. Adequacy

Adequacy demands that “the representative parties will fairly and adequately protect the interests of the class.” AFTRA Ret. Fund, 269 F.R.D. at 345; Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(a)(4).

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Tecku v. YieldStreet Inc.
S.D. New York, 2024
In Re SmileDirectClub, Inc. Securities Litigation
Court of Appeals of Tennessee, 2022
Deangelis v. Corzine
310 F.R.D. 230 (S.D. New York, 2015)
Federal Housing Finance Agency v. Countrywide Financial Corp.
932 F. Supp. 2d 1095 (C.D. California, 2013)
In re IndyMac Mortgage-Backed Securities Litigation
286 F.R.D. 226 (S.D. New York, 2012)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
272 F.R.D. 160, 2011 WL 147735, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/new-jersey-carpenters-health-fund-v-residential-capital-llc-nysd-2011.