MORTGAGE COMPANY’S PROOF OF STANDING AND MAILING OF RPAPL 1304 NOTICE INSUFFICIENT IN THIS FORECLOSURE ACTION (SECOND DEPT).

The Second Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined plaintiff bank did not provide sufficient evidence of standing and mailing of the RPAPL 1304 notice in this foreclosure proceeding:

… [T]he plaintiff failed to meet its prima facie burden of establishing that it had standing to commence this action. In support of its motion, the plaintiff relied on the affidavit of its Document Execution Specialist, Jerrell Menyweather, who attested that the plaintiff received physical delivery of the original note on July 6, 2007, and was in possession and the holder of the note, prior to commencement of the action … . While Menyweather attested that his knowledge was based on business records maintained by the plaintiff, he failed to annex the business records that he referred to in his affidavit. Thus, his affidavit constituted inadmissible hearsay and lacked probative value on this issue of the plaintiff’s standing … .

… [T]he plaintiff failed to establish, prima facie, that it complied with RPAPL 1304. Although Menyweather stated in the affidavit that the RPAPL 1304 notices were sent to certain of the defendants via certified and first-class mail, the plaintiff failed to provide any documents to prove that the mailing actually took place. Moreover, “[w]hile mailing may be proved by documents meeting the requirements of the business records exception to the rule against hearsay,” Menyweather “did not make the requisite showing that he was familiar with the plaintiff’s mailing practices and procedures, and therefore did not establish proof of a standard office practice and procedure designed to ensure that items are properly addressed and mailed” … . Nationstar Mtge., LLC v Jean-Baptiste, 2019 NY Slip Op 09011, Second Dept 12-18-19