JERRY A. RIGGS, SR., APPELLANT,
v.
AURORA LOAN SERVICES, LLC, APPELLEE
AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.
Aurora Loan Services sought to foreclose a mortgage and obtained summary judgment by establishing it was the lawful holder of the promissory note. The court affirmed, holding that Aurora's possession of the original note with a blank indorsement, supported by affidavits, was sufficient under Florida's Uniform Commercial Code to establish holder status and entitlement to enforce the note.
Aurora sufficiently established it was the holder of the note. Possession of the original note indorsed in blank is sufficient under Florida's Uniform Commercial Code to establish lawful holder status entitled to enforce the note's terms. The blank indorsement made the note payable to bearer and negotiable by transfer of possession alone, making Aurora the holder.
[1] Possession of an original negotiable instrument indorsed in blank is sufficient to establish the possessor as the lawful holder entitled to enforce the instrument under F…
[2] A signature made by an agent on behalf of an indorser is an effective signature for purposes of indorsing a negotiable instrument.
Previewing 2 of 5 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“Aurora's possession of the original note, indorsed in blank, was sufficient under Florida's Uniform Commercial Code to establish that it was the lawful holder of the note, entitled to enforce its terms.”
Establishes the core holding that possession of an original note with blank indorsement satisfies the requirement to be a holder under the UCC.
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAurora filed a mortgage foreclosure action against Jerry Riggs, Sr., asserting it owned and held the promissory note. Aurora moved for summary judgmen…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Bearer Instrument cases and more on FLexlaw
*933 ON MOTION FOR REHEARING
We grant appellee Aurora Loan Service, LLC’s motion for rehearing, withdraw our previous opinion of April 21, 2010, and replace it with the following.
Aurora filed a mortgage foreclosure action against Jerry Riggs, Sr., alleging that it was the “owner and holder” of the underlying promissory note. With the complaint, Aurora filed copies of the mortgage and promissory note, which named Riggs as the mortgagor and First Mangus Financial Corporation as the mortgagee. Aurora asserted that the original note was in its possession.
Aurora moved for summary judgment. In support of the motion, it filed two affidavits attesting that it owned and held the note and mortgage. At the hearing on the motion, Aurora produced the original mortgage and promissory note. The note had an indorsement in blank with the hand printed signature of Humberto Alday, an agent of the indorser, First Mangus. The circuit court granted summary judgment in favor of Aurora over Riggs’s objections that Aurora’s status as lawful “owner and holder” of the note was not conclusively established by the record evidence.
We agree with the circuit court that Aurora sufficiently established that it was the holder of the note.
Aurora’s possession of the original note, indorsed in blank, was sufficient under Florida’s Uniform Commercial Code to establish that it was the lawful holder of the note, entitled to enforce its terms. The note was a negotiable instrument subject to the provisions of Chapter 673, Florida Statutes (2008). An indorsement requires a “signature.” § 673.2041(1), Fla. Stat. (2008). As an agent of First Magnus, Alday’s hand printed signature was an effective signature under the Code. See §§ 673.4011(2)(b), 673.4021, Fla. Stat. (2008). The indorsement in this case was not a “special indorsement,” because it did not “identify] a person to whom” it made the note payable. § 673.2051(1), Fla. Stat. (2008). Because it was not a special in-dorsement, the indorsement was a “blank indorsement,” which made the note “payable to bearer” and allowed the note to be “negotiated by transfer of possession alone.” § 673.2051(2), Fla. Stat. (2008). The negotiation of the note by its transfer of possession with a blank indorsement made Aurora Loan the “holder” of the note entitled to enforce it. §§ 673.2011(1), 673.3011(1), Fla. Stat. (2008).
There is no issue of authentication. The borrower did not contest that the note at issue was the one he executed in the underlying mortgage transaction. With respect to the authenticity of the indorsement, the note was self authenticating. Subsection 90.902(8), Florida Statutes (2008), provides that “[cjommercial papers and signatures thereon and documents relating to them [are self authenticating], to the extent provided in the Uniform Commercial Code.” Subsection 673.3081(1), Florida Statutes (2008), provides that “[i]n an action with respect to an instrument, the authenticity of, and authority to make, each signature on the instrument is admitted unless specifically denied in the pleadings.” Nothing in the pleadings placed the authenticity of Alday’s signature at issue.
We distinguish BAC Funding Consortium Inc. ISAOA/ATIMA v. Jean-Jacques, 28 So.3d 936 (Fla. 2d DCA 2010), on its facts. In that case, the second district reversed a summary judgment of foreclosure where the plaintiff seeking foreclosure filed no supporting affidavits and the original note did not identify the plaintiff as its holder. Id. at 938-39. The court explained its holding by pointing out that the plaintiff had failed to offer “evidence of a valid assignment, proof of pur*934chase of the debt, or evidence of an effective transfer.” Id. at 939. Unlike the plaintiff in BAC Funding, Aurora offered both affidavits and the original note with a blank endorsement that supported its claim that it was the proper holder of the note and mortgage.
Affirmed.
GROSS, C.J., and POLEN and STEVENSON, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By (52 total)
-
McLEAN v. JP Morgan Chase Bank Nat'l Ass'n, 79 So. 3d 170 (Fla. 4th DCA 2012)…oes not name the plaintiff as the payee, the note must bear a special endorsement in favor of the plaintiff or a blank endorsement. See Servedio v. U.S. Bank Nat’l Ass’n, 46 So. 3d 1105, 1106-07 (Fla. 4th DCA 2010); Riggs v. Aurora Loan Servs., LLC, 36 So. 3d 932, 933 (Fla. 4th DCA 2010). Alternatively, the plaintiff may submit evidence of an assignment from the payee to the plaintiff or an affidavit of ownership to prove its status as a holder of the note. See Servedio, 46 So. 3d at 1107. Even in the absen…
-
Deutsche Bank Nat'l Tr. Co. for Ameriquest Mortg. Sec., Inc. v. Huber, 137 So. 3d 562 (Fla. 4th DCA 2014)…. Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.420(b). “This court has recognized that possession of the original note is a significant fact in deciding whether the possessor is entitled to enforce its terms.” Clarke, 87 So. 3d at 61 (citing Riggs v. Aurora Loan Servs., LLC, 36 So. 3d 932, 933 (Fla. 4th DCA 2010)). Because a promissory note is a negotiable instrument, a plaintiff seeking to foreclose on a defendant must produce the original note (or provide satisfactory explanation of the failure to produce) and surrender it to the c…
-
Deutsche Bank Nat'l Tr. Co. for First Franklin Mortg. Loan Tr. 2006-FF7 v. Ezra Clarke, 87 So. 3d 58 (Fla. 4th DCA 2012)…t, Florida Evidence § 953.1 (2011 ed.) (footnote omitted). This court has recognized that possession of the original note is a significant fact in deciding whether the possessor is entitled to enforce its terms. See Riggs v. Aurora Loan Servs., LLC, 36 So. 3d 932, 933 (Fla. 4th DCA 2010). Another reason for the section 90.953(1) exception is “that it protects the defendant against the possible negotiation of the note to a bona fide purchaser for value.” Am. Fin. Corp. v. Webb, 1 Conn.Cir.Ct. 230, 23 Conn.Sup…
Previewing 3 of 52 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- BAC Funding Consortium Inc. Isaoa/Atima v. Ginelle Jean-Jacques, 28 So. 3d 936 (Fla. 2d DCA 2010)