Plaintiff Did Not Demonstrate Standing to Bring the Foreclosure Action

The Third Department, over a two-justice dissent, determined plaintiff bank did not demonstrate standing to proceed with the foreclosure because the bank did not present evidence of the affiant’s first-hand examination of the original note and the bank did not explain how it came into possession of the original note:

To establish physical possession, plaintiff produced an affidavit by an assistant secretary, who stated that plaintiff’s “custodial system of record” showed that plaintiff “received the original [n]ote on February 16, 2007” and that plaintiff maintained “possession of the [n]ote at its storage facility” in Monroe, Louisiana. Noticeably absent is any representation by the assistant secretary that she examined the original note and, contrary to the dissent, the affidavit is devoid of any detail as to how plaintiff actually acquired possession of the original note … . JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. v Hill, 2015 NY Slip Op 08479, 3rd Dept 11-19-15