The National Law Review –
In HSBC Bank USA v. Rowe, 2015 IL App (3d) 140553, the Third District appellate court recently affirmed a grant of summary judgment in favor of a lender despite some discrepancies between the copy of the note attached to the complaint and the note submitted into evidence. The Rowe decision presents some valuable practical considerations for lenders and legal practitioners who are engaging in foreclosure work.
In Rowe, following the borrowers’ failure to make mortgage payments, the bank filed a foreclosure action. The trial court subsequently granted the bank’s motion for summary judgment and entered a judgment for foreclosure and sale. The borrowers appealed on numerous grounds, however, the argument of legal import pertained to alleged discrepancies between the note attached to the complaint, and the note actually presented at summary judgment as evidence.
The copy of the note attached to the bank’s complaint was signed by one of the borrowers and the first page of the copy of the note contained the bank’s stamp, certifying that it was a “true and correct copy of the original.” The copy of the note attached to the bank’s subsequent motion to strike the borrowers’ affirmative defense, however, did not contain such certification stamp, but included an indorsement in blank below the borrower’s signature…