Commercial Litigation

4th DCA Confirms Plaintiff Must Establish Standing to Foreclosure at the Time of Filing the Lawsuit Under UCC

4th DCA Confirms Plaintiff Must Establish Standing to Foreclosure at the Time of Filing the Lawsuit Under UCC

The Fourth District Court of Appeal recently reversed a summary judgment of foreclosure because plaintiff failed to establish standing to foreclose at the time the lawsuit was filed.  Here, although plaintiff filed the original note bearing an undated blank endorsement post filing of the complaint, plaintiff failed to establish that it held the note at the time the lawsuit was filed.  The assignment of mortgage was not sufficient to establish transfer of the note at the time suit was filed.  Tilus v. AS Michai LLC, 40 Fla. L. Weekly D811a (Fla. 4th DCA April 8, 2015)

Importance of the decision: The court clarifies that under the UCC, a plaintiff is not required to be both the owner and holder of the note to have standing to foreclose.