United States Second Circuit
Trust for the Certificate Holders of the Merrill Lynch Mortgage Investors v. Love Funding Corp., 071050
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In a case arising out of the sale of commercial mortgage-backed securities in an approximate amount of $100 billion, the court certified the following questions: 1) Is it sufficient as a matter of law to find that a party accepted a challenged assignment with the "primary" intent proscribed by New York Judiciary Law section 489(1), or must there be a finding of "sole" intent?; 2) As a matter of law, does a party commit champerty when it "buys a lawsuit" that it could not otherwise have pursued if its purpose is thereby to collect damages for losses on a debt instrument in which it holds a pre-existing proprietary interest?; 3) (a) As a matter of law, does a party commit champerty when, as the holder of a defaulted debt obligation, it acquires the right to pursue a lawsuit against a third party in order to collect more damages through that litigation than it had demanded in settlement from the assignor? (b) Is the answer to question 3(a) affected by the fact that the challenged assignment enabled the assignee to exercise the assignor's indemnification rights for reasonable costs and attorneys' fees?
Appellate Information
- Decided 02/13/2009
- Published 02/13/2009
Judges
Court
- United States Second Circuit