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DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF  T HE S  TATE OF FLORIDA FOURTH DISTRICT Januar y Term 2010 JERRY A. RIGGS, SR., Appellant, v. AURORA LOAN SERVICES, LLC, Appellee. No. 4D08-4635 [April 21, 2010] S  TEVENSON, J. Aurora Loan Servic es, LLC, filed a mortgage fore closure act ion against  Jerry Ri ggs, Sr., alle ging that it was the “owner and holder” of the underl ying pr omisso ry not e. Aurora filed a copy of the mo rtgag e and a copy of the promisso ry note, which named Riggs as the mo rtgag or and First Mangus Financial Corporation as the mortgagee. The promissory note r eflect ed an “end orsement in blank, which is a stamp wit h a blank line where the name of the assig nee could be filled in above a pre-print ed line naming First Mangus. Aurora moved for summary judgment, and, at the hearing , produ ced the origina l mortgage a n d promis sory note reflecting the original endorsement in blank. The trial court granted summar y judgment in favo r of Aurora over Riggs obj ect ions that Aurora’ s status as lawful “owne r and hol der” of the note was not conclusively established by the record evidence. We agree with R iggs and reverse the summary judgment.  The Second District confronted a similar situation in BAC Funding Cons ortium, Inc . ISAOA/A TIMA v . Je an-Jacqu es , 28 So. 3d 936 (Fla. 2d DCA 2010), when the trial court granted alleged assignee U.S. Bank’s motion for summary judgment. In order to establish its standing to for eclo se, U. S. Bank filed a n assignment of mort gag e, whic h, as described, is compa rable to the endorsement in blank in the ins tant case. Id. at 937. That court reversed because, inter alia , “[t]he incomplete, unsigned, and unauthenticated assignment attached as an exhibit to U.S. Bank’s response to BAC’s motion to dismiss did not constitute admissible evidence establishing U.S. Bank’s standing to foreclose the note and mortgage.” Id. at 939. The court in BAC Funding 

4th DCA Knock Out an Endorsement in Blank That is Unsigned and Unauthentic at Ed Creates a Genuine Issue of Material Fact Riggs v Aurora

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DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF T HE S TATE OF FLORIDA

FOURTH DISTRICT 

January Term 2010 

JERRY A. RIGGS, SR.,Appellant,

v.

AURORA LOAN SERVICES, LLC,

Appellee.

No. 4D08-4635

[April 21, 2010]

S TEVENSON, J.

Aurora Loan Services, LLC, filed a mortgage foreclosure action against  Jerry Riggs, Sr., alleging that it was the “owner and holder” of the

underlying promissory note. Aurora filed a copy of the mortgage and acopy of the promissory note, which named Riggs as the mortgagor and

First Mangus Financial Corporation as the mortgagee. The promissorynote reflected an “endorsement in blank,” which is a stamp with a blankline where the name of the assignee could be filled in above a pre-printedline naming First Mangus. Aurora moved for summary judgment, and,at the hearing, produced the original mortgage and promissory note

reflecting the original endorsement in blank. The trial court grantedsummary judgment in favor of Aurora over Riggs ’ objections that

Aurora’s status as lawful “owner and holder” of the note was notconclusively established by the record evidence. We agree with Riggs andreverse the summary judgment.

  The Second District confronted a similar situation in BAC Funding Consortium, Inc. ISAOA/ATIMA v. Jean-Jacques , 28 So. 3d 936 (Fla. 2dDCA 2010), when the trial court granted alleged assignee U.S. Bank’s

motion for summary judgment. In order to establish its standing toforeclose, U.S. Bank filed a n assignment of mortgage, which, asdescribed, is comparable to the endorsement in blank in the instant

case. Id. at 937. That court reversed because, inter alia , “[t]heincomplete, unsigned, and unauthenticated assignment attached as anexhibit to U.S. Bank’s response to BAC’s motion to dismiss did notconstitute admissible evidence establishing U.S. Bank’s standing toforeclose the note and mortgage.” Id. at 939. The court in BAC Funding 

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Consortium , properly noted that U.S. Bank was “required to prove that it

validly held the note and mortgage it sought to foreclose.” Id.

In the instant case, the endorsement in b lank is unsigned and

unauthenticated, creating a genuine issue of material fact as to whetherAurora is the lawful owner and holder of the note and/or mortgage. Asin BAC Funding Consortium , there are n o supporting affidavits ordeposition testimony in the record to establish that Aurora validly owns

and holds the note and mortgage, no evidence of an assignment toAurora, no proof of purchase of the debt nor any other evidence of an

effective transfer. Thus, we reverse the summary judgment and remandfor further proceedings. We find no merit in any of the other argumentsraised on appeal.

Reversed and remanded.

GROSS, C.J., and POLEN, J., concur.

* * *

Appeal from the Circuit Court for the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit,Broward County; Thomas M. Lynch, IV, Judge; L.T. Case No. CACE 07-17670 (14).

 Jerry A. Riggs, Sr., Cooper City, pro se.

Diana B. Matson and Roy A. Diaz of Smith, Hiatt & Diaz, P.A., Fort

Lauderdale, for appellee.

Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.