A PROPER FOUNDATION FOR THE BUSINESS RECORDS NECESSARY TO DEMONSTRATE STANDING TO BRING THE FORECLOSURE ACTION WAS NOT LAID; THE BANK’S SUMMARY JUDGMENT MOTION SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN GRANTED (SECOND DEPT).
The Second Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined plaintiff bank did not law a proper foundation for the business records required to demonstrate standing to bring the foreclosure action:
… [T]he plaintiff submitted … the affidavit of Kathleen Manly, an assistant vice present of Residential Credit Solutions, Inc. … , the plaintiff’s loan servicer. While Manly averred … that she was familiar with Residential’s records and record-keeping practices, and that she had reviewed the records of the prior loan servicer, Bank of America, N.A. … , she did not state that she was familiar with the records or record-keeping practices of Bank of America or that Bank of America’s records were incorporated into Residential’s records and routinely relied upon by Residential in its own business. Thus, she failed to lay a foundation for the admissibility of the records she relied upon to support her claim that the plaintiff possessed the original note prior to the commencement of this action … . Bank of N.Y. Mellon v Penso, 2021 NY Slip Op 02268, Second Dept 4-14-21