Plaintiff Did Not Demonstrate Standing—No Proof Underlying Debt Was Transferred to the Plaintiff Along with the Mortgage

The Second Department determined the plaintiff in a mortgage foreclosure proceeding did not demonstrate standing because there was no proof the underlying debt was transferred to the plaintiff along with the mortgage:

Where, as here, standing is put into issue by the defendant, the plaintiff must prove its standing in order to be entitled to relief… .  In a mortgage foreclosure action, “[a] plaintiff has standing where it is the holder or assignee of both the subject mortgage and of the underlying note at the time the action is commenced” … . ” Either a written assignment of the underlying note or the physical delivery of the note prior to the commencement of the foreclosure action is sufficient to transfer the obligation'” … . “Where a mortgage is represented by a bond or other instrument, an assignment of the mortgage without assignment of the underlying note or bond is a nullity” . Here, the evidence submitted by the plaintiff in support of its motion did not demonstrate that the note was physically delivered to it prior to the commencement of the action, and the plaintiff similarly failed to submit a written assignment of the note. Bank of NY Mellon v Gales, 2014 NY Slip Op 02402, 2nd Dept 4-9-14