MBIA v. Credit Suisse, DLJ & SPS
MBIA v. Credit Suisse, DLJ & SPS
MBIA v. Credit Suisse, DLJ & SPS
- against·
VERIFIED COMPLAINT
CREDIT SUISSE SECURITIES (USA) LtC,
DLJ MORTGAGE CAPlTAL, INC., and
SELECT PORTFOLIO SERVICING, INC.
Defendants.
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Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP, for its complaint against defendants Credit Suisse
Securities (USA) LLC ("CS Securities") and its affiliates DLJ Mortgage Capital, Inc. ("DLJ",
and together with CS Securities, "Credit Suisse") and Select Portfolio Servicing, Inc. ("SPS"),
hereby alleges upon personal knowledge as to itself and as to its own conduct, and upon
1. MBIA brings this action to seek redress for Credit Suisse's pervasive and
backed securities transaction that DLJ sponsored, CS Securities marketed, SPS serviced, and
MBIA insured, which closed in April 2007 (the Home Equity Mortgage Trust Series 2007-2
thousands of residential mortgage loans into a loan "pool," which subsequently was transferred
to a trust formed to issue securities that were to be paid down based on the cash flow from the
pooled mortgage loans. SPS was the "servicer" of the Transaction, and in that role was tasked
with, among other things, collecting monthly mortgage payments, monitoring performance of
borrowers so as to maximize monthly mortgage payment collections, and seeking recovery from
delinquent borrowers for amounts due on the mortgage loans in the pool. CS Securities served
as underwriter for the public offering, and thus marketed the securities to investors. To enhance
the marketability of certain classes of the securities, CS Securities solicited, and DLJ and SPS
contracted with MBlA to issue, a financial guaranty insurance policy guaranteeing payment on
these securities. MBlA's financial guaranty insurance provided that MBIA would guarantee
payments of interest and ultimate principal to purchasers of the securities in the event that the
pool ofloans in the trust did not generate sufficient income to cover such payments.
concert (a) to induce MBIA to enter into an insurance agreement and issue an insurance policy
by making fraudulent statements and untrue contractual representations and warranties and,
by falsely representing (i) the attributes of the securitized loans, (ii) that Credit Suisse used
certain strict underwriting guidelines to select the loans sold into the Transaction, when in fact it
did not, and (iii) that Credit Suisse conducted extensive due diligence on the securitized loans to
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ensure compliance with the strict guidelines, when in fact such diligence had not been
undertaken.
numerous untrue representations and warranties in the parties' insurance agreement and other
operative transaction documents. OLJ made express representations and warranties regarding
the characteristics of the securitized loan pool in the aggregate and OLJ's mortgage loan conduit
business (the "transaction-level warranties"), and relating to the attributes of each of the
individual loans securitized in the Transaction (the "loan-level warranties"). The transaction-
level and loan-level warranties both were critical to MBIA's assessment of the risk of insuring
the Transaction.
representations and warranties concerning the accuracy and adequacy ofOLl's disclosures about
its (i) mortgage-loan pools, (ii) mortgage-lending operations, including the acquisition and
securitization of its loans, (iii) financial statements, and (iv) compliance with laws governing the
offer and sale of the securities. These broad reprcsentations formed an important part of the
foundation of the parties' bargain because the accuracy, or conversely the breach, of the
representations necessarily would have a material effect not only on the risk profile of the loans
included in the Transaction, but also on (i) OLJ's cntire loan portfolio acquircd for securitization,
(ii) its financial condition, (iii) its ability to carry out its contractual obligations, and (iv) its
individual loans in the securitizcd pool. OLJ represented and warranted, among other things,
that (i) the critical attributes of each loan as supplied by OLJ to MBiA were true, correct and
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complete, (ii) each loan complied with the applicable originators' underwriting standards,
prudent and customary underwriting guidelines, and prudent and customary origination,
underwriting, servicing and collection practices, and (iii) no borrower was in breach of his or her
obligations under the loan agreements. If a loan failed to comply with the loan-level warranties,
DLJ agreed to cure the brcach, or repurchase or provide an adequate substitute for the non-
conforming loan.
provided the assurance that systemic underwriting failures and origination abuses did not plague
the loans it securitized, and assumed thc risk in the event its representations wcre inaccurate.
MBlA, in turn, assumcd the market risk that loans that were originated pursuant to the
represented practices and controls and bearing the represented attributes might not perform as
expected. This fundamental allocation of risk was the heart of the parties' bargain.
9. Since the Transaction closed in April 2007, the securitized loans have
defaulted at a remarkable rate. Through October 31, 2009, loans representing more than 51 % of
the original loan balance, or approximately $464 million, have defaulted and been charged-off,
10. Once the losses began to mount, MBIA sought access to the loan
origination files maintained by SPS to ascertain the cause of the poor performance. For months,
SPS stonewallcd MBIA's repeated attempts to obtain from SPS copies of the documentation
relating to the individual loan files, despite the fact that SPS was contractually required to
provide such access. SPS's obfuscation was intended to prevent MBIA from uncovering that (i)
the mortgage loans that were pooled for purposes of the Transaction did not comply with the
promises that CS Securities and DLJ had made about them; (ii) SPS had not adequately serviced
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the securitized loans; and (iii) SPS improperly had released without consideration a large number
of "charged-off' loans from the trust to its affiliate CS Securities. Indeed, MBIA did not obtain
access to any of the loan origination files until it terminated SPS as servicer.
consultant to review loan origination files of 1,798 loans in the securitized loan pool (with an
aggregate initial principal balance of over $109 million), of which 477 were selected at random
from the entire securitized pool. The results of that review were startling. Incredibly,
approximately 85% of all the loans reviewed breached DLJ's representations and warranties.
The review demonstrates a complete abandonment of applicable guidelines and prudent practices
such that the loans were (i) made to numerous borrowers who were not eligible for the reduced
documentation loan programs through which their loans were made, and (ii) originated in a
manner that systematically ignored the borrowers' inability to repay the loans. The rampant and
obvious nature of the breaches confimls that Credit Suisse made intentional misrepresentations
concerning its mortgage loans and the due diligence that Credit Suisse purported to perform
12. Based on the review, to date, MBIA has provided DLJ with formal notice
that loans with an aggregate initial principal balance of approximately $78.1 million breached
DLJ's representations and warranties. In further breach of its contractual obligations, DLJ has
13. For significant consideration, DLJ sold to the trust a pool replete with
loans that did not comply with Credit Suisse's representations and warranties, and that were
made to borrowers with little to no ability to repay their debt. CS Securities similarly profited
from selling securities backed by these defective loans to investors whose payments were
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guaranteed by the policy it obtained from MBIA. SPS reaped substantial servicing fees from its
role as servicer, despite the fact that it refused to comply with the fundamental, contractually
required obligations in that role-to service the loans in accordance with accepted and prudent
industry practices. But when the non-conforming loans began to default, DLJ refused to comply
with and instead frustrated its contractual repurchase obligations. As a direct result of Credit
Suisse's wrongdoing, MBIA already has made claim payments on its policy in the amount of
$296 million through October 31, 2009 and expects to pay many millions of dollars more in the
THE PARTIES
14. MBIA is a New York corporation with its principal place of business at
15. DLJ is organized under the laws of the State of Delaware and maintains its
principal place of business in New York, New York. DLJ is, or was at all relevant times herein,
16. CS Securities is organized under the laws of the State of Delaware and
maintains its principal place of business in New York, New York. CS Securities is, or was at all
17. SPS is organized under the laws ofthe State of Utah, and maintains its
principal place of business in Salt Lake City, Utah. SPS is, or was at all relevant times herein, a
18. This Court has personal jurisdiction over DLJ, CS Securities and SPS
pursuant to N.Y. c.P.L.R. §§ 301 and 31 I. Further, in the Insurance Agreement, dated as of
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April 30,2007 (the "Insurance Agreement"), DLJ and SPS irrevocably submitted to the
jurisdiction ofany court in the State of New York located inthe City and County of New York.!
and 503(c) because each ofDLJ and CS Securities has its principal office within New York
County and therefore is deemed to reside therein. Further, in the Insurance Agreement, DLJ and
FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS
20. On or about March 2, 2007, Tim Kuo ofCS Securities contacted MBIA to
solicit a bid for MBlA to issue a policy insuring certain senior classes of securities issued as part
of the Transaction. At the time, Mr. Kuo was a CS Securities Vice President, and the point
comprised of over fifteen thousand closed-end, second lien loans with an aggregate outstanding
principal balance of approximately $900 million. The contemplated Transaction involved the
sale of the loans to a trust formed to issue securities backed and to be paid down by the cash flow
from the loans. CS Securities solicited MBIA to issue a financial guaranty insurance policy
MBlA's insurance policy to make the Transaction more attractive to potential investors.
22. In his initial March 2, 2007 communication, Mr. Kuo indicated that the
Transaction was to close later that month) and that MBIA would need to decide quickly whether
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it wanted to participate. MBIA initially had reservations with respect to its participation in the
transaction for Credit Suisse, and more particularly, involving Credit Suisse's "Home Equity
Mortgage Trust" or "HEMT" platform. MBIA's decision whether to bid, and the premium to
demand for its insurance policy, depended on its assessment of the likelihood that the loans
would generate sufficient cash flow to fund the amounts due to the security holders. Unlike
traditional first-lien mortgage loans used to finance the purchase of a home, the loans in the
proposed transaction were second-lien mortgage loans. Because the loans were not secured by a
priority lien on the underlying property, the likelihood that the holder of the loans would recover
the amounts due was highly dependent on the borrowers' ability to repay the loans in full (and
less so on an expectation of recovery from foreclosure in the event of default). Given the large
number ofloans involved, and the limited amount of time to complete the transaction, it was
impossible for MBIA to review the loan files in the pool to determine whether each borrower
could repay.
24. Second, MBIA had concerns regarding one of the originators of the loans
securitized in the Transaction. CS Securities' affiliate DLJ, which pooled the various loans for
the Trust, had not itself originated the loans. Instead, it had acquired the loans through multiple
channels from various "originators" that had dealt directly with the borrowers. MBIA had a
negative view of one of the primary originators of the loans, a company called New Century.
Indeed, MBIA had previously declined to insure at least one other mortgage-backed securities
transaction specifically because it included loans originated by New Century. Given MBIA's
limited ability to review information about the individual loans, combined with its concerns
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about the practices of one of the primary originators, MBIA required strong assurances from
Credit Suisse regarding its business and the loans proposed for the securitization as a condition
and explicit representations designed to induce MBIA's participation. With respect to MBIA's
first concern about its lack of prior insurance of a Credit Suisse securitization, CS Securities
assured MBIA that Credit Suisse was a pillar of the financial industry and that its mortgage-
backed securities business-and the "shelf' from which the loans proposed for securitization
were drawn-had a track record of success. With respect to MBIA's concern about certain of
the loans in the pool being originated by New Century, CS Securities assured MBIA that Credit
financial guaranty insurance for a securitization involving its HEMT shelf, CS Securities pointed
to its strong institutional pedigree. Credit Suisse Group was at the time the second largest
commercial bank headquartered in Switzerland and was viewed as a pioneer in the development
of the residential mortgage-backed securities market, with more than twenty years of experience
in the sector. Given Credit Suisse Group's stature, MBIA was assured that it could trust the
27. CS Securities also touted to MBIA the impressive performance of its prior
securitizations, noting in a March 22, 2007 email that "the performance of our HEMT shelf [is]
far superior to all other securitization shelves." Moreover, CS Securities made a presentation to
MBIA about the specific financial performance of Credit Suisse's prior HEMT deals, which
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represented the high quality and performance of the HEMT shelf and the steps it had taken to
ensure improved performance in the future. CS Securities affirmative representations render all
the more glaring its knowing omission of the more pertinent and crucial fact: As CS Securities
knew full well, the loans in those prior HEMT securitizations were originated through the same
defective underwriting practices as those included in the Transaction, and the performance data
disclosed was therefore materially and intentionally misleading. But these assurances had their
intended effect, as MBIA relied upon Credit Suisse's successful history in the field in deciding to
participate in the Transaction. An internal MBIA memorandum dated April 13,2007 explained
that the Transaction was appealing in significant part because of "the longstanding track record
of the individual loans that would serve as collateral for the Transaction. CS Securities provided
MBIA a loan schedule, or "tape," which set forth material information about each loan, including
attributes about the borrower and his or her credit-worthiness, such as the borrower's debt-to-
income ("DTI") ratio, as well as attributes about the property serving as collateral for the loan,
such as the combined loan-to-value ratio ("CLTV"). Moreover, CS Securities assured MBIA
that the loans involved in the transaction were underwritten to strict guidelines created or
29. CS Securities also assured MBIA that it had conducted due diligence on
the loans included in the Transaction to ensure compliance with the Credit Suisse-created or
approved underwriting guidelines, and the borrowers' abilityto repay the pooled loans. Along
those lines, CS Securities touted the fact that it had rejected a large number of loans from the
pool as proof that Credit Suisse was scrupulous in ferreting out loans that did not meet its
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exacting standards before they were added to the HEMT shelf. In addition, Mr. Kuo sent MBIA
on April 13, 2007 spreadsheets illustrating the purportedly rigorous due diligence that CS
Securities (through Mr. Kuo) represented had been performed on the loans. These spreadsheets
depict an individualized review of thousands of the loans included in the pool. CS Securities'
representations concerning the underwriting and due diligence purportedly conducted to confirm
the disclosures concerning the pooled loans were critical to MBIA's decision to participate in the
Transaction. Indeed, MBlA's reliance is confirmed in its April 16, 2007 internal memorandum
prepared to obtain approval for the Transaction, which specifically reiterates CS Securities'
representation that "Credit Suisse performs due diligence prior to loan purchase, [and] thus only
about the fact that many of the loans had been originated by New Century. In addition to
providing the assurances outlined above regarding strict due diligence performed by Credit
Suisse on the loans - including those originated by New Century-CS Securities assured MBIA
that Credit Suisse itself would vouch for the New Century loans by providing express contractual
representations and warranties about their quality. That all of the representations and warranties
for the deal were to come from Credit Suisse-and MBIA did not bear the risk that New Century
or any of the other originators had provided false information-was a crucially important
April 13,2007 internal memorandum regarding the proposed Transaction, where MBIA noted
that "[Credit Suisse] is providing all of the reps in the deal (i.e., nO exposure to buyback
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31. CS Securities made the foregoing representations in advance of
MBIA's execution of, and as an inducement for MBIA to issue, a financial guaranty insurance
policy. Credit Suisse intended MBIA to rely on this infonnation in evaluating the risk of issuing
its policy, and MBIA reasonably did so in deciding to issue its policy. CS Securities' motive for
providing these representations is clear: CS Securities and its affiliates stood to profit
handsomely from the Transaction and the sale of the mortgage-backed securities to investors.
materially false and misleading. As discussed further below, MBIA retained an expert third-
party consultant that reviewed the files created during the origination of the loans and
detennined, after great time and expense, that the disclosures on the loan tape concerning the key
attributes of each loan were false and misleading. The review also confinned that the due
diligence CS Securities conveyed to MBIA was not designed or conducted to assess the loans'
compliance with underwriting guidelines, including whether the borrowers' stated income was
reasonable or adequate to repay the loan, The extent of the non-confonning loans identified by
the review-which was the vast majority-demonstrates that CS Securities either knew that its
representations were false, or acted recklessly in making them. What is clear in view of the level .
of due diligence purportedly undertaken is that the representations were not made honestly.
33. MBIA would not have agreed to participate in the Transaction had it
known that CS Securities' representations were false and/or omitted critical infonnation that was
required to make them not misleading. The misrepresentations ran to the core of the
participating in the Transaction and materially increasing the risk ofMBIA's insurance policy.
As CS Securities knew full well, these representations were material to MBIA's assessment of its
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risk and decision to issue its policy. Had CS Securities made truthful disclosures, MBIA would
have determined that the risk associated with the Transaction was too great for it to accept.
B. DLJ Makes Representations and Warranties to Induce MBIA to Issue its Policy
affiliate DLJ stepped in to provide the contractual representations and warranties that MBIA
required as a condition to issuing its insurance policy. Evidencing the concerted conduct of the
Credit Suisse affiliates, Mr. Kuo aJes Securities also acted on behalf of, and was the authorized
signatory for, DU with respect to two agreements that contained the representations and
warranties: (I) the Insurance Agreement between DLJ, SPS and MBIA (the "Insurance
Agrecment"), dated as of April 30,2007; and (2) the Pooling and Servicing Agreement ("PSA"),
among DLJ, SPS, their affiliate Credit Suisse First Boston Mortgage Securities Corp.
("CSFBMSC"), and U.S. Bank National Association, as Trustee (the "Trustee") dated as of April
1,2007. Thc two contracts were among the series of agreements DLJ caused to be exccuted to
35. First, DLJ as Seller sold and assigned its entire interest in the loan pool it
had amassed to CSFBMSC pursuant to an Assignment and Assumption Agreement, dated April
30,2007. The securitized pool was comprised of 15,615 closed-end second-lien mortgage loans
with an aggregate principal balance of almost $900 million. DLJ had itself acquired these loans
from various originators that made the loans to the borrowers and then bundled them for resale.
36. CSFBMSC, in turn, sold its interest in the mortgage loans to the Home
Equity Mortgage Trust 2007-2 (the "Trust") pursuant to the PSA. The Trust then issued
which were registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") and
37. Finally, pursuant to the PSA, SPS was engaged to act as servicer with
respect to the loans. In that role, SPS was responsible for various administrative duties, such as
delinquent loans), initiating foreclosure proceedings and reporting key information about the
loans to the Trustee for dissemination to the other transaction participants and the
Certificateholders. SPS represented in Section 3.01 of the PSA that it would service the loans in
accordance with "those mortgage servicing practices of prudent mortgage lending institutions
which service mortgage loans of the same type as such Mortgage Loans in the jurisdiction where
the related Mortgaged Property is located." Significantly, as explained in more detail below,
SPS also was responsible for maintaining documentation files regarding the loans, and was
obligated to make such documentation available to MBIA (among others) upon reasonable
request.
38. With the underlying securitization agreements executed, DU, SPS and
MBIA then entered into the Insurance Agreement, which as discussed below, contains express
the PSA.
solicitation ofMBIA's participation in the Transaction and DU's and SPS's representations,
Agrcement and the PSA, MB lA issued Certificate Guaranty Insurance Policy Number 495190
(the "Policy"). Under the Policy, MBIA agreed to insure certain payments of interest and
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principal due on the Class IA·I, Class 2A·lA, Class 2A·IF, Class 2A·2, Class 2A·3 and Class
40. The representations and warranties OLJ made to and for the benefit of
MBIA allocated certain risk ofloss in the Transaction. As the "Sponsor" of the Transaction, and
the "Seller" of the loans to the Transaction, OLJ assumed the risks associated with the
origination, selection and description of the loans included in the Transaction. That is, OLJ
accepted the risk that its disclosures pertaining to the loans and its practices were true, accurate
and complete (i.e., not false or misleading), regardless of its own (or MBIA's) actual knowlcdge
or diligence. MBIA, in tum, accepted the risk that the loans conforming to DU's
41. This was a reasoned risk-allocation arrangement. Unlike MBIA, OLJ and
its affiliates were in privity with the originators, and established the controls, protocols and
criteria governing the selection ofloans to acquire from the originators and securitize. OLJ also
dictated the protocols and underwriting standards to which the lenders had to adhere for their
loans to qualify for the OLJ securitizations. OLJ thus had the ability to manage, and did in fact
actively manage, the risk associated with the origination, selection and description of the loans.
In this regard, OLJ routinely obtained representations and warranties from the originators of the
loans it purchased and had the ability to seek recourse for breaches of those provisions. OLJ also
had the ahility to reject - and Credit Suisse informed MBIA that it did in fact reject -loans that
removed from the process of vetting the borrowers to whom these loans were made. Moreover,
as offered, the timing of the Transaction did not contemplate or afford MBIA the opportunity to
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undertake its own review of the thousands of individual loan files comprising the proposed loan
pool. Thus, in order to participate, MBIA had to rely on the information Credit Suisse conveyed
to MBlA about the loans and Credit Suisse's due diligence of the loans and the originators for
the purpose of evaluating the risks of insuring the transaction. Accordingly, MBlA reasonably
assumed only the market risk that the loans, as represented by DU, would perform.
43. DLJ made two types of representations and warranties to effectuate this
risk-sharing arrangement. The representations and warranties concerned, among other things,
the attributes of the Transaction loan pool in the aggregate and DLJ's mortgage-lending
operations, practices and protocols and related disclosures (i.e., transaction-level warranties), and
1. Transaction-Level Warranties
(k) Compliance with Securities Laws. The offer and sale of the
Securities comply in all material respects with all requirements of
law.... Without limitation of the foregoing, the Offering
Document does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact
and does not omit to state a material fact necessary to make the
statements made therein, in light of the circumstances under which
they were made, not misleading; provided, however, that no
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representation is madc with respect to the Insurer Information.
Neither the offer nor the sale of the Securities has been or will be
in violation of the Securities Act or any other federal or state
securities laws.
broadly attest that all the information provided by DLJ concerning its mortgage loans, the Credit
Suisse mortgage lending operations (e.g., its loan-acquisition practices, underwriting guidelines
and due diligence), or used to market the Certificates (e.g., the Prospectus or ProSupp), is true,
accurate and complete. Any material misstatement or omission with respect to such disclosures
therefore is a breach of these provisions, irrespective of whether or not DLJ knew of such
misstatement or omission.
2. Loan-Level Warranties
46. The loan-level warranties were made in the Pooling and Servicing
47. In the PSA, DLJ makes numerous representations and warranties about the
attributes of each loan in the Transaction, and thereby assumes the risk that those representations
prove false, irrespective ofDLJ's knowledge of their falsity. These representations and
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warranties are found in Schedule IV to the PSA, and are made, by the PSA' s express terros, for
MBIA's benefit:
among others, the following with respect to each loan included in the Transaction:
(ii) Any and all requirements of any federal, state or local law ...
applicable to the Mortgage Loan have been complied with in all
material respects at the time it was originated and as of the Closing
Date.
(iv) The Mortgage Loan complies with all the terros, conditions
and requirements of the originator's underwriting standards in
effect at the time of origination of such Mortgage Loan, which in
all material respects are in accordance with customary and prudent
underwriting guidelines used by originators of closed-cnd sccond
lien mortgage loans.
(ix) The Mortgage Note and Mortgage are not subject to any right
of rescission, set-off, counterclaim or defense, including, without
limitation, the defense of usury, nor will the operation of any of the
ternlS of the Mortgage Note or the Mortgage, orthe exercise of any
right thereunder, render the Mortgage Note or Mortgage
unenforceable, in whole or in part, or subject to any right of
rescission, set-off, counterclaim or defense, including the defense
of usury, and no such right of rescission, set-off, counterclaim or
defense has been asserted with respect thereto.
6 PSA, Section 2.03(d). The PSA defines "Certificate Insurer" as "MBIA Insurance Corporation, or its
successors and assigns."
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institutions which service mortgage loans of the same type in the
jurisdiction in which the Mortgaged Property is located.
49. Thus, the loan-level warranties are breached by, among other violations,
loans made to borrowers (i) with unreasonable stated incomes or that otherwise have no
reasonable ability to repay the loan, which would contravene any underwriting guideline, and/or
(ii) who falsely stated their income, which would render the information on the Mortgage Loan
Schedule untrue and would constitute a breach of the terms of the borrower's Mortgage. As
discussed below, the securitized loan pool is replete with such breaches and many others.
50. DLJ agreed in the PSA that it would cure any breach of the loan-level
warranties, or repurchase the breaching loan from the pool (the "Repurchase Protocol").
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discovered by [MBIA (among others)] that the substance of
such representation and warranty is inaccurate and such
inaccuracy materially and adversely affects the value of the
related Mortgage Loan or the interests of the [MBIA
(among others)] therein, notwithstanding the [DU's] lack
of knowledge with respect to the substance of such
representation or warranty, such inaccuracy shall be
deemed a breach of the applicable representation or
warranty.
enforce the Repurchase Protocol and seek redress for DU's failure to comply with its obligations
to cure, repurchase or substitute breaching loans. But as noted below, the parties' agreement
expressly provides that the Repurchase Protocol is not an exclusive remedy, and that MBIA may
pursue all remedies available at law and in equity for DU's breaches of its obligations. See
3. COlltractual Remedies
parties' bargain, the Insurance Agreement affords MBIA broad remedies to address breaches by
53. All remedies at law alld equity. Section 5.02(a) of the Insurance
Agreement provides that upon the occurrence of an Event of Default, 8 MBlA "may take
whatever action at law or in equity as may appear necessary or desirable in its judgment to
collect the amounts then due under the Transaction Documents or to enforce performance and
observance of any obligation, agreement or covenant of the ... Seller [DU] ... under the
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Transaction Documents." Moreover, Section 5.02(b) goes on to clarify that any and all remedies
available may be asserted cumulatively and without exclusion, stating that "no remedy herein
conferred upon or reserved is intended to be exclusive of any other available remedy, but each
remedy shall be cumulative and shall be in addition to other remedies given under the
Insurance Agreement, DLJ also agreed to pay and indemnify MBlA for any and all losses,
claims, demands, damages, costs, or expenses arising out of or relating to, among other things,
any "misfeasance or malfeasance of, or gross negligence or theft committed by, any director,
officer, employee or agent of [DLJ, among others] in connection with the Transaction." DLJ
similarly agreed to pay and indemnify MBIA for any "breach by [DU] of any representation,
warranty or covenant on the part of ... [DLl] contained in the Transaction Documents" or "any
untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact contained in the Offering
Document ... or arising out of or based upon any omission or alleged omission to state therein a
material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not
misleading ...."
agreed to reimburse MBIA for "payments made under the Policy arising as a result of the
[DLl's] failure to repurchase any Mortgage Loan required to be repurchased by the Seller
pursuant to the PSA. In Section 3.03(c) of the Insurance Agreement, DLJ further agreed to
reimburse MBIA for "any and all reasonable charges, fees, costs and expenses that the Insurer
[MBIA] may reasonably payor incur, including reasonable attorneys' and accountants' fees and
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expenses in connection with ... the enforcement or defense or preservation by the Insurer of any
avail itself of the Repurchase Protocol, SPS engaged in a scheme to prevent MBIA from
accessing the loan origination files that were essential to MBIA's evaluation of whether the loans
Policy-MBIA sought to obtain access to loan origination files, which were in the custody of
SPS, consistent with its role as scrvicer for the Transaction under the PSA. By letter datcd
August 22, 2008, MBIA wrote SPS requesting a servicing review and a review of origination
files for all loans that were then 60 or more days delinquent. MBIA's rights to conduct such
revicws (the "Access Rights") were express and specifically bargained for precisely so that
MBIA could avail itself of the Repurchase Protocol, as well as evaluate SPS's servicing of the
loan pool. In this regard, Section 3.07 of the PSA provides as follows:
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59. In response to MBIA's request, by a series of communications beginning
with its letter dated September 18, 2008, SPS stonewalled and ultimately improperly denied
MBIA the access to the loan origination files that it sought and was contractually entitled to.
SPS first responded to MBlA's request by indicating that it did not have the origination files
MBIA sought. When that lie was debunked, SPS objected to providing access to MBIA on
various equally illegitimate grounds for the next several months, including feigned financial and
operational burdensomeness and confidentiality concerns. While SPS stonewalled, the losses to
MBIA mounted as its claim payments reached the hundreds of millions of dollars.
60. As it was stymied in its efforts to obtain access to the loan files, MBIA
took additional steps to investigate why the loans were defaulting at such an alarming rate. In
December 2008, MBIA retained a consultant to conduct an onsite review of SPS' s servicing
activities, as allowed by the Transaction documents. That review was also severely and
improperly limited by SPS, but it nevertheless revealed that SPS had failed to adequately service
the loans in the Transaction. Significantly, the consultant determined that, as the level of losses
on the pool mounted, SPS reduced the staff dedicated to the servicing of those loans.
61. In short, SPS elected to abandon its contractual obligations to optimize the
servicing fees it retained on the Transaction. Under a side agreement executed between SPS and
DU, SPS split its servicing fees with its affiliate DU. Thus, while the servicing fee provided
significant compensation to Credit Suisse entitities, the portion of that fee that SPS actually
62. Having failed to comply with its contractual servicing obligations and
refused MBJA the loan file documentation it required to assess the extent of DU's breaches,
MBIA was left with no choice but to terminate SPS as servicer in accordance with its contractual
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right to do so under the PSA. It was only after such termination in March 2009 that MBIA
finally gained access to many of the origination files it first sought to obtain from SPS. As
explained below, MBIA quickly discovered why SPS had been so intent on concealing the loans
files: they confirmed Credit Suisse's pervasive lies about the quality of the loans in the
Transaction.
63. Making matters worse, MBIA also discovered after terminating SPS that
SPS's malfeasance did not end with its inadequate servicing or obfuscation of its affiliates'
wrongdoing by denying MBIA access to loan files. In connection with the servicing transfer,
MBIA learned that SPS had wrongfully released and thus denied MBIA access to more than
2,000 charged-off mortgage loans from the Trust to the holders of the Class X-2 Certificates,
64. Under the PSA, SPS was permitted to release charged-offloans to the
holders of the Class X-2 Certificates subject to satisfying certain conditions. These "charged-
off' loans were mortgages that were more than 180 days in default. The purpose of the provision
in the PSA that allowed these loans to be released was to permit the removal of only those loans
from the trust with respect to which SPS had made a good faith effort for a reasonable period of
time to collect all that could be collected from the borrower. The Class X-2 Certificate holders
could then seek to obtain recoveries from these mortgages by pursing the delinquent borrowers.
65. Before any loan could be released in this manner, certain procedures had
to be followed by SPS pursuant to the terms of the PSA, and MBIA had to be provided notice of
the satisfaction of those procedures. Specifically, SPS could only release those of the charged-
off loans that SPS affirmatively determined it would service using "special servicing" for a
prescribed period of time after charge-off. The PSA required that this determination be
24
evidenced by a special notice to MBIA. The special servicing under the PSA should have
consisted of loss mitigation and/or recovery efforts by SPS to maximize proceeds to the Trust.
SPS never engaged in any legitimate "special servicing" activity with respect to these loans post-
charge-off, nor did it ever notify MBIA of its intention to do so as required by the PSA.
Accordingly, SPS improperly released more than 2,000 charged offloans from the Trust to its
affiliate CS Securities, all of which loans rightfully continue to constitute property of the Trust.
66. This has harmed MBIA in two ways. First, because SPS claimed that
those Mortgage Loans were no longer the property of the Trust, SPS did not transfer the loan
files associated with those loans to the successor servicer. As such, SPS continues to deprive
MBIA of access to loan files relating to more than 2,000 defaulted loans. Without these files, it
is impossible for MBIA to evaluate whether the loans were ever in compliance with Credit
Suisse's representations.
67. Second, any recoveries that may be obtained with respect to these loans
rightfully belong to the Trust, and therefore would be used to reimburse MBIA for claim
payments it has made or to offset any future payments MBIA is required to make under its
Policy. By breaching its contractual obligations with respect to the charged-offloans, SPS has
68. MBIA retained a third-party consultant to review the files created during
the origination of the securitized loans for compliance with the guidelines (at least to review
those files that it was eventually able to obtain after terminating SPS). From a sample of 1,386
defaulted loans in the Transaction, MBIA identified breaches ofDLJ's representations and
approximately $78.1 million. MBIA also reviewed a sample of 477 randomly-selected loans
25
from the Transaction. Of those, MBIA identified breaches ofDLJ's representations and
approximately $20.6 million. The analysis demonstrates that breaches of representations and
warranties are pervasive and exist in a comparable percentage of loans in the total securitized
loan pool.
69. The breaching loans contained one or, in most cases, more than one defect
that constituted a breach of one or more of DLJ's numerous representations and warranties.
70. The number and nature of the defects identified by MBIA's review
indicate clearly that the loans included in the Transaction were systematically originated with
virtually no regard for the borrowers' ability or willingness to repay their obligations - the
fundamental precept of mortgage lending. Rather, the review clearly indicates that borrowers
were permitted or encouraged to take out loans they obviously could not afford to repay.
26
71. DLJ's breaches materially and adversely affected MBIA's interests in the
identified loans. Loans that were not appropriately originated and underwritten, or with key
attributes otherwise misrepresented, are markedly more risky and therefore less valuable than
Insurance Agreement, the Prospectus and ProSupp that Credit Suisse prepared to market the
Insured Securities (and the same documents that Credit Suisse filed with the SEC) did not
adequately or accurately disclose the true attributes of the loans (e.g., the weighted average
combined loan-to-value ratio, occupancy status, or debt-to-income ratio), the level of fraud and
underwriting failings permeating the loan pool, the grossly deficient origination and underwriting
loans in the pool, MBIA also enlisted a third-party consultant to review SPS's conduct as
servicer; and specifically whether SPS had complied with the requirements of Section 3.01 of the
PSA that it act in accordance with prudent and accepted servicing practices. This review
contirmed that SPS in fact failed to adequately service the loans it was entrustcd with.
74. The review commissioned by MBIA revealed that SPS' loss mitigation
efforts were grossly inadequatc, as it did almost nothing to contact delinquent borrowers and try
to bring them current or make alternative arrangements for repayment of their debts.
Notwithstanding the industry's focus on loan modifications as a loss mitigation strategy, SPS
modified the loans of only a small handful of borrowers. Additionally, SPS did not send anyone
to the mortgaged property to try to contact the borrower and/or to inspect the property that served
as collateral for the loan. Even on those relatively rare occasions when SPS representatives
27
managed to contact a delinquent borrower, the representatives lacked the basic skills and training
necessary to obtain any meaningful assurances of future payments on the loan. SPS also
determined that certain borrowers had "no equity" in their respective properties - a designation
that effectively forestalled additional collection efforts - without any evidence to support the
conclusion. Further, SPS did not have a specialized group for servicing second lien loans and it
was grossly understaffed for the collection and loss mitigation efforts that needed to be brought
to bear on this troubled loan pool. In short, SPS utterly failed to adhere to prudent and accepted
75. The pervasive breaches in the securitized pool arc borne out by the
perfonnance of the loans since closing. As of October 31, 2009, 7,216 loans with an aggregate
outstanding principal balance of approximately $464 million (or approximately 51.5% ofthe
original pool balance) have defaulted and been charged-off, resulting in the payment by MBIA
76. In accordance with Section 2.03(e) of the PSA, by letters dated August 5,
2009, August 27, 2009, September 9, 2009, September 29, 2009, October 13,2009, November
3,2009, and November 11,2009, the Trustee gavc fonnal noticc to OLJ of the breaches that
MBIA had discovered with respect to 1,214 loans. The Trustee demanded that OLJ comply
with its obligations under the Repurchase Protocol and cure or repurchase the affected loans
within 90 days.
77. DLJ has fonnally responded with respect to the first three notices and did
not cure or repurchase a single one of the 564 loans identified therein within the requisite
timcframe allowed under the Repurchase Protocol. Moreover, OLJ's responses reveal a bad faith
disregard of its obligations under, and frustration of, the repurchase protocol.
28
G. Credit Suisse Has Caused and Is Causing MBIA Great Harm
78. MBIA would not have participated in the Transaction and issued its Policy
had it known ofCS Securities' fraud or DU's pervasive and material breaches of its
representations and warranties. Credit Suisse's pervasive misrepresentations and breaches pierce
the very heart of the bargain struck by the parties. The portfolio ofloans Credit Suisse sold into
the Transaction did not bear any resemblance to what Credit Suisse represented and warranted
would be transferred. Credit Suisse's deliberate frustration of the Repurchase Protocol further
consequence of Credit Suisse's malfeasance, including the payment of over $296 million in
claim payments through October 31,2009, lost-opportunity costs on those amounts and the
reserves MBIA must maintain relating to the future anticipated claims on the Transaction. With
(Fraudulent Inducement)
of this Complaint.
81. As set forth above, CS Securities made materially false statements and
omitted material facts in email communications with MBIA with the intent to defraud MBIA.
pool of loans that had a risk profile far greater than CS Securities had led MBIA to believe.
29
84. As a result of CS Securities' false and misleading statements and
omissions, MBIA has suffered, and will continue to suffer, damages including claims payments
wantonly, oppressively, and with the knowledge that they would affect the general public-
this Complaint.
88. The PSA is a valid and binding agreement with respect to which MBIA is
89. MBIA has performed all of its obligations under the Insurance Agreement.
90. DLJ has materially breached its representations and warranties under
Section 2.01 of the Insurance Agreement and Section 2.03 of the PSA.
be determined at trial.
this Complaint.
30
93. OLJ has materially breached its obligations under Section 2.03(e) of the
PSA by refusing to cure or repurchase the loans that breached OLJ's representations and
warranties and with respect to which notice of breach has been provided by the Trustee to OLJ
by letters dated August 5, 2009, August 27, 2009 and September 9, 2009.
94. MBIA has been damaged and will continue to be damaged in an amount to
be determined at trial.
this Complaint.
96. DLJ and SPS were obligated under the Insurance Agreement and PSA to
act in good faith to allow MBIA to receive the benefit of its bargain under those agreements,
including the right to assess and seek recovery for breaches ofOLl's representations and
warranties.
97. OLJ and SPS breached their duty of good faith and fair dealing by failing
to provide MBIA with access to the information necessary to effectuate the Repurchase Protocol,
and thereby actively concealing the falsity of the representations and warranties made to induce
MBIA to enter into the Insurance Agreement and issue its Policy.
98. MBIA has been damaged and will continue to be damaged in an amount to
be determined at trial.
31
FIFTH CAUSE OF ACTION
this Complaint.
100. DLJ induced MBIA to enter into the Insurance Agreement and to issue the
Policy by making extensive representations and warranties concerning the loans that DLJ caused
to be sold to the Trust, and by agreeing to broad remedies for breaches of those representations
and warranties.
insure the Transaction, and MBIA was induced thereby to enter into the Insurance Agreement
102. DLJ's pervasive and material breach of its representations and warranties,
and its frustration of the loan-level repurchase remedy, constitutes a material breach of the
Insurance Agreement as a whole that has deprived MBIA of the very purpose of the parties'
bargain.
J03. MBIA has been damaged and will continue to be damaged in an amount to
be determined at trial.
this Complaint.
105. Pursuant to Section 3.07 of the PSA, SPS was required to provide MBTA
reasonable access to all records and documentation regarding the Mortgage Loans.
32
106. In breach of its contractual obligations, SPS refused MBIA's reasonable
prudent and accepted servicing standards, as required by Section 3.01 of the PSA, and by
releasing charged-offloans without complying with the provisions set forth in Section 3.11 of
matcrially higher, MBIA was delayed in obtaining access to certain documentation relating to the
Mortgage Loans, and it has been denied access altogether to documentation regarding other
Mortgage Loans. SPS's improper tactics have made it impossible for MBIA to identify and seek
to remedy promptly Credit Suisse's pervasive misconduct with respect to the Transaction.
MBIA has bccn damaged and will continue to be damaged in an amount to be determined at trial.
(Indemnification)
this Complaint.
to be indemnified for any and all claims, losses, liabilitics, demands, damages, costs, or cxpenses
of any nature arising out of or relating to the transaction contemplated by the Transaction
Documents by reason of, among other things, (i) any negligence, bad faith, willful misconduct,
misfcasance, malfeasance or theft committcd by any director, officer, employee or agent of DLJ
and/or (ii) a breach by DLJ of any ofthe representations, warranties, or covenants containcd in
thc Transaction Documents or any untrue statcment or alleged untrue statement of a material fact
33
contained in any Offering Document or any omission or alleged omission to state therein a
material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not
misleading.
and made material misstatements and/or omissions in the Offering Documents that have caused
MBIA to pay claims and incur losses, costs, and expenses, and will continue to cause MBIA to
this Complaint.
reimburse MBIA for payments made under the Policy arising as a result ofDLJ's failure to
repurchase any Mortgage Loan required to be repurchased by DLJ pursuant to the PSA.
reimburse MBIA for any and all charges, fees, costs, and expenses paid or incurred in connection
with, among other things, enforcing, defending, or preserving MBIA's rights under the
Transaction Documents.
pay MBIA interest on the amounts to be reimbursed under Section 3.03(b) and 3.03(c).
116. MBIA has made payments made under the Policy arising as a result of
DLJ's failure to repurchase any Mortgage Loan required to be repurchased by it pursuant to the
34
PSA and has incurred numerous expenses, including attorneys' fees and expert fees, in order to
enforce, defend, and preserve its rights under the relevant agreements.
H. For an Order awarding MBIA such other and further relief as the
Court deems just and proper.
JURY DEMAND
Plaintiff demands a trial by jury for all issues so triable as a matter of right.
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VERIFICATION
Respectfully submitted,
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