DEFENDANT DID NOT DEMONSTRATE PLAINTIFF BANK DID NOT HAVE STANDING TO BRING THE FORECLOSURE ACTION, DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN GRANTED (SECOND DEPT). ​

The Second Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined the defendant’s motion for summary judgment based upon the banks’ alleged lack of standing to bring the foreclosure action should not have been granted:

… [T]he defendant, as the moving party, failed to make a prima facie showing that the plaintiff lacked standing to commence this action. In support of his motion, the defendant submitted a copy of the complaint, to which was annexed, among other things, a copy of the consolidated note. The consolidated note was endorsed by Countrywide Bank, N.A., to Countrywide Home Loans, Inc., and, in turn, by Countrywide Home Loans, Inc., in blank. This evidence established that the plaintiff was in physical possession of the consolidated note at the time this action was commenced … . Under these circumstances, the validity of the purported assignments of the note and mortgage is irrelevant to the issue of the plaintiff’s standing … . Deutsche Bank Natl. Trust Co. v Benson, 2020 NY Slip Op 00259, Second Dept 1-17-20