On July 23, Judge Marsha Pechman of the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington denied Washington Mutual’s motion for summary judgment.  Plaintiffs allege that Washington Mutual misrepresented the extent to which its underwriting guidelines were lowered and unevenly applied in connection with the sale of RMBS, including that the underwriters at Washington Mutual had substantial discretion to deviate from the already lowered guidelines.  Judge Pechman held that the plaintiff class raised a genuine dispute as to whether the statements in the offering documents were false and misleading based on alleged systematic deviation from underwriting guidelines.

Decision