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THE BANK IN THIS FORECLOSURE ACTION DID NOT DEMONSTRATE IT WAS THE HOLDER OF THE NOTE AND DID NOT DEMONSTRATE POSSESSION OF THE NOTE AT THE TIME THE ACTION WAS BROUGHT BECAUSE THE NOTE ITSELF WAS NOT ATTACHED TO THE LOAN SERVICER’S AFFIDAVIT; THE BANK’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN GRANTED (SECOND DEPT).

The Second Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined the plaintiff bank should not have been awarded summary judgment in this foreclosure action because it did not demonstrate standing to foreclose:

… [T]here was no evidence that the plaintiff is the assignee of the note, and a triable issue of fact exists as to whether the plaintiff was the holder of the note at the time this action was commenced. A promissory note is a negotiable instrument within the meaning of the Uniform Commercial Code (see UCC 3-104[2][d] …) “holder” is “the person in possession of a negotiable instrument that is payable either to bearer or to an identified person that is the person in possession” (UCC 1-201[b] [21][A] …). In the present case, there is a triable issue of fact as to whether the note was properly specially endorsed by an allonge “so firmly affixed thereto as to become a part thereof” when it came into the possession of the plaintiff (UCC 3-202[2] …).

Further, the affidavit of Verdooren [loan servicer employee] and the accompanying business records were insufficient to establish the plaintiff’s standing … . Although the foundation for the admission of a business record may be provided by the testimony of the custodian, “it is the business record itself, not the foundational affidavit, that serves as proof of the matter asserted” ( … see CPLR 4518[a]). Here, although Verdooren stated that Wells Fargo had possession of the note on the plaintiff’s behalf at the time the action was commenced, the documents attached to Verdooren’s affidavit failed to establish this fact. Bank of N.Y. Mellon Trust Co., N.A. v Andersen, 2022 NY Slip Op 05827, Second Dept 10-19-22

Practice Point: If the defendant raises the lack-of-standing defense in a foreclosure action, the bank must demonstrate the plaintiff was the assignee of the note and the note was in its possession when the action was brought. Here the plaintiff did not show the note was properly endorsed by an attached allonge when it came into plaintiff’s possession and the note was not attached to the loan servicer’s affidavit, rendering the affidavit hearsay.

 

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DEFENSE COUNSEL WAITED UNTIL AFTER THE PROSECUTOR MADE SEVERAL ARGUABLY IMPROPER... PLAINTIFF IN THIS STRICT FORECLOSURE ACTION SHOULD HAVE BEEN ALLOWED TO AMEND...