In Vaca v. Wachovia Mortgage Corporation, --- Cal.Rptr.3d ----, 2011 WL 3659938 (Cal.App. 4 Dist. 2011), the California Court of Appeal affirmed the dismissal of a fraud claim on statute of limitations grounds. In 2005, the plaintiff sued her ex-husband, claiming he created false credit histories for their children and used those histories to refinance their mortgages with Wachovia. That case soon settled and, in 2009, the plaintiff sued Wachovia and its successor, Wells Fargo, claiming they participated in her ex-husband's fraud.

The trial court found that the plaintiff had failed to allege any wrongdoing after 2001. It sustained the defendants' demurrer without leave to amend on the ground that the three-year statute of limitations for fraud barred the plaintiff's claims. The Court of Appeal affirmed.