Opinion
Civil Action No. 06-cv-01502-MSK-KLM.
September 28, 2007
ORDER
This matter comes before the Court on Plaintiff's Motion for Extension of Discovery Deadline [Docket No. 97; filed May 7, 2007] (the "Motion for Extension") and Plaintiff's Motion to Compel Production of Documents from Defendant's Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., Successor by Merger to Wells Fargo Bank Minnesota, N.A., as Trustee F/K/A Norwest Bank Minnesota, N.A., as Trustee for the Holders of the Structured Asset Securities Corporation Amortizing Residential Collateral Trust Mortgage Pass-Through Certificates, Series 2002-BC5 and from Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC [Docket No. 98; filed May 7, 2007] (the "Motion to Compel").
This Court has reviewed Plaintiffs' Motions, Defendants' Responses, and Plaintiffs' Reply and is sufficiently advised on the premises. Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Plaintiff's Motion for Extension [Docket No. 97] is DENIED, as specified below. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Plaintiff's Motion to Compel [Docket No. 98] is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part, as specified below.
I. Background
Defendant Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. ("MERS") states that on or around April 13, 2007, it was served with Plaintiff's First Set of Requests for Production of Documents, which requests contained, inter alia, 108 interrogatories and requests for production of documents. Defendant MERS's Response, p. 2, ¶ 4-5. Defendants Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. ("Wells Fargo") and Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC ("Ocwen") state that they were served with a combined 170 document requests from Plaintiffs. Defendants Wells Fargo and Ocwen's Response, p. 3, ¶ 2. Defendants Wells Fargo and Ocwen also state that on February 28, 2007, they served written responses on Plaintiffs, along with a set of 236 Bates-labeled documents. Defendants Wells Fargo and Ocwen's Response, p. 3, ¶ 2. Plaintiffs admit that they received from Defendants "several hundred pages of discovery documents." Plaintiff's Declaration, p. 2.
II. Motion for Extension
III. Motion to Compel
Motion for Extension Defendants Wells Fargo and Ocwen's Response Plaintiff's Motion for Extension of Discovery Deadline DENIED. Motion to Compel Declaration of Bruce Rogers and Connie Ricotta in Support of Plaintiff's Motion for Extension of Discovery Deadline and to Compel Production of Documents
Defendants Wells Fargo and Ocwen admit that they have withheld one document from production (a "Securitization Servicing Agreement") due to Plaintiffs' refusal to execute a protective order that would prevent disclosure of alleged proprietary, confidential and trade secret information in that document. Defendants Wells Fargo and Ocwen's Response, p. 4, ¶ 1. Indeed, by letter dated April 19, 2007, Plaintiff Connie Ricotta wrote to Defendants Wells Fargo and Ocwen, "I do not agree to sign [the] stipulated protective order," failing to provide any reason for her refusal to do so. Defendants Wells Fargo and Ocwen's Response, Ex. E, p. 2. However, despite their failure to produce the discoverable document, Defendants have failed to move for entry of a protective order pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(c)(7).
Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the Motion to Compel is GRANTED as to the Securitization Servicing Agreement ("SSA"), which shall be produced to Plaintiffs within five (5) days of the date of this Order.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Plaintiffs shall not disclose the form or content of the SSA to anyone who is not a party to this litigation, and Plaintiffs shall be entitled to use the SSA only for purposes of this litigation.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the remainder of Plaintiff's Motion to Compel is DENIED. After a review of the pleadings filed by the Parties, the Court concludes that, apart from the SSA, Defendants have produced all responsive documents in their custody and control which are relevant to the subject matter of the litigation and reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence. Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(b)(1). Moreover, Defendants are not obligated to produce relevant information in the form requested by Plaintiffs, but merely to produce it in the form in which it is maintained in the ordinary course of their businesses.