THE BANK DID NOT PRESENT ADMISSIBLE EVIDENCE OF DEFENDANTS’ DEFAULT IN THIS FORECLOSURE ACTION (SECOND DEPT).

The Second Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined the bank did not present admissible evidence of defendants’ default in this foreclosure action:

… [T]he plaintiff failed to establish, prima facie, a default in payment by Vanterpool and Chalas [defendants]. While the plaintiff submitted an affidavit by someone with personal knowledge of the plaintiff’s loan servicer’s business practices and procedures, the affiant failed to submit any business record to substantiate the alleged default … . Further, “[w]hile a witness may read into the record from the contents of a document which has been admitted into evidence, a witness’s description of a document not admitted into evidence is hearsay” … . “[I]t is the business record itself, not the foundational affidavit, that serves as proof of the matter asserted” … . U.S. Bank Trust, N.A. v Vanterpool, 2020 NY Slip Op 07946, Second Dept 12-23-20