U.S. Bank National Ass'n v. Lehman Bros. Holdings Inc. (In re Lehman Bros. Holdings Inc.)

566 B.R. 353, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 26319
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedFebruary 22, 2017
DocketNo. 16 Civ. 5813 (CM)
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 566 B.R. 353 (U.S. Bank National Ass'n v. Lehman Bros. Holdings Inc. (In re Lehman Bros. Holdings Inc.)) 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
U.S. Bank National Ass'n v. Lehman Bros. Holdings Inc. (In re Lehman Bros. Holdings Inc.), 566 B.R. 353, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 26319 (S.D.N.Y. 2017).

Opinion

DECISION AND ORDER AFFIRMING DECISION OF BANKRUPTCY COURT

McMahon, C.J., United States District Judge

Appellants-Claimants U.S. Bank National Association (“U.S. Bank”); Wilmington Trust Company; Wilmington Trust, National Association; Law Debenture Trust Company of New York; and Deutsche Bank National Trust (collectively, the “RMBS Trustees”), solely in their respective capacities as indenture trustee, trustee, or separate trustee for 405 mortgage-backed securities trusts (the “Trusts”), bring this appeal seeking reversal of a June 27, 2016 order issued by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York (Chapman, J.) (the “Bankruptcy Court”), disallowing and expunging certain proofs of claim filed by the RMBS Trustees (the “Expunged Claims”) against Appellee-Plan Administrator Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (“LBHI”). The RMBS Trustees allege that this order was based solely on a court-ordered claims resolution protocol, which they assert did not apply to some of the Expunged Claims, and which they allege expressly preserved their right to prove certain claims through the use of an alternative method of resolution such as statistical sampling.

For the reasons below, the Court affirms the Bankruptcy Court’s order.

Background and Procedural History

This appeal arises from the long-running bankruptcy proceeding involving LBHI and certain of its subsidiaries (the “Debtors”), which filed voluntary Chapter 11 petitions beginning in September 2008,1 The RMBS Trustees are the designated trustees for the Trusts, which were created between 2002 and 2008 to securitize pools of residential mortgage loans purchased from LBHI. The mortgage loans had corresponding mortgage loan sale and assignment agreements (“MLSAAs”) between LBHI and Structured Asset Securities Corporation (“SASCO,” collectively with LBHI, “Lehman”), and each loan was deposited into the Trusts pursuant to a Trust Agreement (together with the MLSAAs, the “Governing Agreements”). Each MLSAA contains specific representations and warranties (“R&Ws”) regarding the characteristics and origination of the mortgage loans, and under the Governing Agreements, Lehman agreed to repurchase the loans if it breached an R&W.

[356]*356In a July 2, 2009 order, the Bankruptcy Court set September 22, 2009 as the deadline for filing proofs of claim against the Lehman estate (the “Bar Date”). It is undisputed that the RMBS Trustees, on or before the Bar Date, timely filed more than 300 proofs of claim arising from Lehman’s alleged breaches of the R&Ws, and that LBHI has objected to these proofs of claim.

The RMBS Trustees’ claims arise from the 405 Trusts and approximately one million mortgage loans. Their claims fall into two categories. Of the 405 Trusts served by the RMBS Trustees, 255 Trusts (the “Covered Trusts”) include approximately 416,000 loans that constitute “Covered Loans.” Covered Loans are loans on which Lehman has acknowledged that it made R&Ws regarding the nature or quality of the loans and the delivery thereof to the Trusts. Of those 416,000 Covered Loans, approximately half have been repaid in full or re-underwritten by the RMBS Trustees, leaving approximately 209,000 Covered Loans outstanding. (See R. at APP00536 n.3.)

The approximately 600,000 remaining loans in the Trusts (the “Transferor Loans”) were originated by third parties and acquired by Lehman before being deposited in their respective Trusts (the “Transferor Trusts”); Generally, for the Transferor Loans, Lehman asserts that it only assigned or passed on the originators’ R&Ws to the Trusts, meaning that Lehman itself made very limited R&Ws regarding the mortgage loans. (R. at APP00150-51.) Lehman also asserts that it is not liable for breaches of R&Ws where the right to “put back” the loan to a third-party originator has been passed through to a Trust. (R. at APP00010 n.3, APP00151.)

On August 22, 2014, the RMBS Trustees moved to estimate the value of their claims through statistical sampling, rather than through a loan-by-loan review (the “Estimation Motion”). (R. at APP00001-35.) As part of the Estimation Motion, the RMBS Trustees reviewed a sample of the Covered Loans — 4,579 files — for R&W breaches. The RMBS Trustees claimed that it took approximately two years to identify a statistically valid sample of Covered Loans, obtain loan files for the sample from third parties, review the loan files for R&W breaches, and analyze and extrapó-late the results to the full set of Covered Loans. (See R. at APP00536.) Based on the results of the RMBS Trustees’ sampling, they also requested that the Bankruptcy Court increase the reserve set aside to satisfy their claims from $5 billion to $12,143 billion.

On October 15, 2014, LBHI objected to the RMBS Trustees’ Estimation Motion and cross-moved (the “Cross-Motion”) for an order establishing a claims resolution protocol (the “Protocol”) that would require the RMBS Trustees to prove their claims on a loan-by-loan basis. (R. at APP00127-530.)

On December 10, 2014, the Bankruptcy Court held an all-day hearing on the competing Estimation Motion and Cross-Motion, hearing evidence from four expert witnesses on the viability of estimating the RMBS Trustees’ claims by sampling and the viability of LBHI’s proposed Protocol.

On December 29, 2014, the Bankruptcy Court issued an order granting LBHI’s Cross-Motion (the “Protocol Order”). (R. at APP00761-75.) The Protocol Order adopted LBHI’s proposed Protocol (which was modified by the parties from LBHI’s original proposal). The Protocol establishes a detailed multi-step process for reviewing the RMBS Trustees’ claims on a loan-by-loan basis. The adoption of the Protocol Order necessarily meant that the Bank[357]*357ruptcy Court denied the RMBS Trustees’ Estimation Motion,2

In essence, the Protocol mandates that the RMBS Trustees and the Debtors engage in an alternative dispute resolution (“ADR”) process to attempt to resolve the claims submitted by the RMBS Trustees. The Protocol Order makes clear that compliance with the Protocol is mandatory, stating that, “the Debtors shall have the right to seek the disallowance and ex-pungement of any RMBS Claims for the RMBS Trustees’ failure to comply with the procedures and deadlines set forth in the RMBS Protocol with respect to any such RMBS Claims....” (R. at APP00764.)

The Protocol is a five-step process. First, the RMBS Trustees are required to collect and produce to LBHI the underlying loan files supporting their claims. Second, LBHI must review those files and determine whether it agrees that a valid claim exists for the file (an “Approved Claim File”) or not (a “Rejected Claim File”). Third, for any Rejected Claim File or any Approved Claim File for which the RMBS Trustees dispute LBHI’s proposed purchase price; the parties must engage in a non-binding negotiation procedure. Fourth, for claims that are not resolved through that negotiation procedure, the parties must engage in a formal non-binding dispute resolution procedure overseen by a neutral “Claim Facilitator.” Fifth, the parties have the right to object to any proposal by the Claim Facilitator, in which case the claim proceeds to trial.

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Bluebook (online)
566 B.R. 353, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 26319, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/us-bank-national-assn-v-lehman-bros-holdings-inc-in-re-lehman-bros-nysd-2017.