THE UCC CRITERIA FOR PROOF OF POSSESSION OF A LOST NOTE WERE NOT MET; PLAINTIFF BANK THEREFORE DID NOT DEMONSTRATE IT HAD STANDING TO BRING THE FORECLOSURE ACTION (SECOND DEPT).
The Second Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined plaintiff bank did not demonstrate it had standing to bring the foreclosure action. The UCC’s requirements for demonstrating ownership of a lost note were not met:
… [T]he affidavit of possession of the original note, sworn to by a vice president of loan documentation for the plaintiff, does not contain any details of delivery of the note, except for the claim that it was delivered to the plaintiff sometime after its execution, and that the plaintiff “had possession of the Promissory Note on or before … the date that this action was commenced.” The lost note affidavit of another vice president of loan documentation employed by the plaintiff stated vaguely, and in a conclusory manner, that the note was “inadvertently lost, misplaced or destroyed,” that the plaintiff had not “pledged, assigned, transferred, hypothecated or otherwise disposed of the note,” and that the plaintiff had made “a diligent and extensive search of its records in a good faith effort to discover the lost note in accordance with its procedures for locating the lost note.” The lost note affidavit did not provide any facts as to when the search for the note occurred, who conducted the search, or when or how the note was lost … . Thus, it “failed to sufficiently establish the plaintiff’s ownership of the note” … .
Since the plaintiff failed to demonstrate its ownership of the lost note (see UCC 3-804), or that it had standing, “as the lawful holder or assignee of the subject note on the date it commenced this action, to commence the action … . Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. v Meisels, 2019 NY Slip Op 08243, Second Dept 11-13-19
