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Administration November 22, 2011
Pension Funds’ Suit against Countrywide Certified as Class Action
November 22, 2011 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - A federal judge has certified a class action lawsuit in the case against Countrywide that accuses the home mortgage firm of deceptive practices in the sale of mortgage-backed securities (MBS).
Reported by Rebecca Moore
U.S. District Judge Mariana R. Pfaelzer of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California signed an order certifying class consisting of all persons or entities that purchased MBS from eight groups of securities sold by Countrywide entities before January 14, 2010.
The class action lawsuit filed in 2010 by several state retirement funds charges that Countrywide used materially false or misleading documents to sell billions of dollars of MBS that were downgraded to junk bond status by 2008 (see Oregon Sues Countrywide over Pension Fund Losses).
The class representatives include the Iowa Public Employees’ Retirement System, the Oregon Public Employees’ Retirement System, the Orange County Employees’ Retirement System and the General Board of Pension and Health Benefits of the United Methodist Church.