THE DOCUMENTS UPON WHICH THE CALCULATIONS IN THE REFEREE’S REPORT WERE BASED WERE NOT PRODUCED RENDERING THE REPORT INADMISSIBLE HEARSAY (SECOND DEPT).

The Second Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined the referee’s report was inadmissible hearsay because the documents upon which the calculations were based were not produced:

The defendant correctly contends, however, that the referee’s calculation was not substantially supported by the record. Modlin’s [the loan servicer’s] affidavit, which was submitted to the referee for the purpose of establishing the amount due on the mortgage loan, appeared to lay a proper foundation for the admission of the business records on which she relied, including the payment history for the loan, in making her calculations. Modlin averred that she was an authorized signatory of Caliber, U.S. Bank’s loan servicer and attorney-in-fact, that she had reviewed Caliber’s electronic records regarding the defendant’s account, and that she had “knowledge of how those electronic records [were] kept and maintained” … . Modlin further averred that the business records of any prior servicer had been “uploaded and boarded into [Caliber’s] computer records” and were “maintained in connection with the servicing of [the subject] loan”,,, , In addition, U.S. Bank Trust demonstrated Caliber’s authority to act on its behalf by submitting the limited power of attorney.

Nevertheless, computations based on the review of unproduced business records amount to inadmissible hearsay and lack probative value … . Here, U.S. Bank Trust did not submit to the referee copies of the business records upon which Modlin purportedly relied in computing the amount due on the mortgage loan. Consequently, the referee’s findings in that respect were not substantially supported by the record … . U.S. Bank Trust, N.A. v Bank of Am., N.A., 2022 NY Slip Op 00213, Second Dept 1-12-22