A federal judge in Manhattan has rejected an argument by Countrywide Financial seeking certain protections from investor lawsuits under new legislation intended to encourage modifications of home loans.

Countrywide, the big mortgage company, had argued that the legislation automatically voided its pledges to buy back loans from investors if those loans were modified for troubled borrowers.

The ruling is a win for holders of mortgage-backed securities who sued Countrywide in December after the company, now a unit of Bank of America, agreed to modify thousands of loans in a settlement with state attorneys general. The opinion, by Judge Richard J. Holwell of Federal District Court in New York, was made public on Tuesday.

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