PLAINTIFF IN THIS FORECLOSURE ACTION DID NOT SUBMIT THE BUSINESS RECORDS RELEVANT TO DEFENDANT’S DEFAULT, RENDERING THE AFFIDAVIT ALLEGING DEFENDANT’S DEFAULT HEARSAY (SECOND DEPT).

The Second Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined plaintiff did not prove defendant’s default in this foreclosure action because the relevant business records were not attached to the motion papers:

“In order to establish prima facie entitlement to judgment as a matter of law in a foreclosure action, a plaintiff must submit the mortgage and unpaid note, along with evidence of the default” … . Although the plaintiff submitted the mortgage and the unpaid note, it failed to submit admissible evidence of the default.

“An affiant’s assertion regarding the defendant’s default, without the business records upon which he or she relied in making such an assertion, constitutes inadmissible hearsay” … . It is the business record itself that serves as proof of the matter asserted and “not the foundational affidavit” … .

Here, the plaintiff submitted an affidavit of an employee of the servicer and attorney-in-fact for the plaintiff, which set forth that, “[a]ccording to the business records that I have reviewed . . . the Defendant Roy Daleo failed to comply with the terms of the Note and Mortgage by defaulting in the monthly payment that was due on April 1, 2013 and monthly thereafter.” The affiant did not attach the business records upon which she relied in making her assertion regarding the defendant’s alleged default, and no such records were attached to the plaintiff’s motion. The affidavit of the plaintiff’s witness was therefore inadmissible hearsay and failed to satisfy the plaintiff’s prima facie burden … .  MTGLQ Invs., L.P. v Daleo, 2024 NY Slip Op 03477, Second Dept 6-26-24

Practice Point: To prove a defendant’s default in a foreclosure action, the affidavit alleging default must be accompanied by the supporting business records. If the records are not provided, the affidavit is hearsay.