Thursday, November 10, 2016

ATTEMPT TO DEMONSTRATE STANDING FAILED BECAUSE THE SUBMITTED AFFIDAVIT DID NOT MEET THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE BUSINESS RECORDS EXCEPTION TO THE HEARSAY RULE; AFFIDAVIT SUBMITTED IN REPLY PAPERS CANNOT BE CONSIDERED.


The Second Department determined plaintiff loan service did not demonstrate standing to bring this foreclosure action. The affidavit submitted by the plaintiff did not meet the requirements of the business records exception to the hearsay rule. An affidavit submitted with the reply papers could not be considered: “…[T]he plaintiff relied on the affidavit of Jaclyn Holloway, an assistant secretary of Nationstar Mortgage, LLC (hereinafter Nationstar). Holloway alleged that, after the action was commenced, the plaintiff delivered the note to NationStar. She alleged that, ‘pursuant to the business records of [the plaintiff],’ the plaintiff had physical possession of the note when it commenced the action. However, the plaintiff failed to demonstrate the admissibility of the records relied upon by Holloway under the business records exception to the hearsay rule (see CPLR 4518[a]) since Holloway did not attest that she was personally familiar with the record-keeping practices and procedures of the plaintiff ... . Consequently, Holloway’s allegations based on those records were inadmissible ... , and, therefore, insufficient to meet the plaintiff’s prima facie burden to establish its standing ... . The plaintiff could not rely on the affidavit of its vice president to meet its prima facie burden since the affidavit was improperly submitted for the first time in its reply papers ...”. . Aurora Loan Servs., LLC v. Baritz, 2016 N.Y. Slip Op. 07154, 2nd Dept 11-2-16