A U.S. District judge has rejected an effort by Wells Fargo to seek the dismissal of a federal lawsuit alleging that it violated the terms of the National Mortgage Settlement.
Bloomberg News reports that the San Francisco-based bank argued that a False Claims Act lawsuit filed last October by the U.S. Attorney in New York should not proceed because of Wells Fargo's acceptance of the terms of the National Mortgage Settlement. However, U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer ruled that the National Mortgage Settlement did not shield Wells Fargo from separate federal lawsuits.
‘The court finds that the release is clear and unambiguous, as evidenced by its plain language,’ Collyer wrote in her ruling. ‘The plain language of the release governs, and it does not have the meaning ascribed to it by Wells Fargo.’
Wells Fargo declined to publicly comment on the ruling.