Wells Fargo basically wins two cases over mortgage losses

Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC) won the dismissal of one lawsuit and a portion of another claiming the fourth-largest bank neglected to monitor toxic mortgage-backed securities, which were a primary cause of the 2008 global financial crisis.

In a 68-page order, U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla of the Southern District of New York rejected a complaint filed by investors led by Ireland's Phoenix Light SF Ltd, noting that the legal problems addressed had previously been handled in past action.

The judge also found that Commerzbank AG (OTC:CRZBY) was prevented from pursuing certain claims against Wells Fargo in San Francisco because the German lender lacked standing or filed too late.

Commerzbank (ETR:CBKG) was given permission to sue Wells Fargo after revealing that servicers for 17 trusts had liquidated 3,377 loans using defective documentation rather than letting sellers acquire them. Other claims were also retained.

Plaintiffs' counsel did not immediately react to queries for comment. Wells Fargo did not react immediately to comparable questions.

The lawsuits claimed hundreds of millions of dollars in damages in connection with Wells Fargo's function as loan trustee.

They are part of a series of cases brought over the preceding decade and a half to hold lenders and trustees liable for the collapsing value of once-safe residential mortgage-backed securities.

Trustees were commonly sued for failing to push sellers to buy back troubled loans, failing to alert investors of defaults, and failing to exercise reasonable standards of care.

Wells Fargo previously paid two investor class actions and a National Credit Union Administration lawsuit over illegal mortgages.

It agreed to pay a $2.09 billion civil judgment in August 2018 to settle US Department of Justice claims that it knowingly produced and promoted residential mortgage loans that misrepresented income and were of lesser quality than it had indicated.

Phoenix Light SF Ltd et al v Wells Fargo Bank NA, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 14-10102; and Commerzbank AG v Wells Fargo Bank NA, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 15-10033.