Countrywide Financial group is urging a California court to dismiss racketeering claims brought against it by Prudential Life Insurance Company. Prudential’s suit alleges that Countrywide used omissions and misrepresentations to sell low-quality mortgage backed securities to unknowing consumers. Countrywide is alleging that the claim is time barred based on an inquiry notice standard that would prevent the suit alleging that more than $500 million of these mortgage backed securities were wrongfully sold by Countrywide .

The inquiry notice standard starts running the statute of limitations at the point when plaintiffs should have been aware of its claimed injury and the source of that injury — in this case, when “reasonable investor” would have been aware of problems with underwriting at Countrywide — according to Countrywide’s memorandum in support of its motion to dismiss the claims. Opposing council claimed that this notice standard had not been met by the date in question .