Source: http://fl.findacase.com/research/wfrmDocViewer.aspx/xq/fac.20180511_0005330.FL.htm/qx
Timestamp: 2019-04-18 11:05:46+00:00

Document:
DEUTSCHE BANK NATIONAL TRUST COMPANY AMERICAS, as Trustee RALI 2007-QS1, Appellee.
Appeal from the Circuit Court for Polk County; Keith P. Spoto, Judge.
Mark P. Stopa of Stopa Law Firm, Tampa, for Appellants.
William L. Grimsley, Kimberly Held Israel, and N. Mark New, II, of McGlinchey Stafford, Jacksonville, for Appellee.
Keli and Thomas Johnson appeal the circuit court's entry of a final summary judgment against them in a residential mortgage foreclosure case brought by Deutsche Bank National Trust Company Americas, as Trustee RALI 2007-QS1 (RALI). They raise five arguments on appeal. We find merit within the fourth-that RALI failed to conclusively establish its standing to enforce the Johnsons' promissory note-and reverse the summary judgment on that basis.
The Johnsons borrowed $236, 000, apparently in connection with a home improvement construction loan, which was memorialized by a promissory note in that amount dated April 28, 2006. The Johnsons' note was originally payable to National City Mortgage, a division of National City Bank of Indiana, and secured by a mortgage on the Johnsons' property in Polk County, Florida. The promissory note contained three endorsements, the last of which made the note payable to "Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas as Trustee, " with no further identifying information of which trust this entity was acting on behalf of.
When the Johnsons allegedly defaulted on the note in 2011, RALI filed the underlying complaint. It later amended its complaint twice, so that in its final, operative iteration, RALI alleged it had standing to enforce the Johnsons' note as a holder of the note. The Johnsons generally denied RALI's allegations in their answer and asserted several affirmative defenses, including lack of standing on the part of RALI to enforce the note. RALI eventually filed the original note, which contained endorsements appearing to match those on the copy attached to its pleading.
The case proceeded with itinerant discovery and motion practice, and on July 8, 2016, RALI filed a motion for summary judgment. In support of its motion, it also filed an affidavit signed by Sarah Greggerson, an employee of PNC Mortgage, an entity that purported to be servicing the Johnsons' loan. It appears from the record that RALI relied upon PNC's status as its servicer as a basis to establish RALI's status as a holder of the Johnsons' note (Ms. Greggerson's affidavit was the only one filed in support of RALI's motion for summary judgment). In our view, that was insufficient evidence of RALI's standing for purposes of summary judgment in this case.
We review a summary judgment under a de novo standard of review. Herendeen v. Mandelbaum, 232 So.3d 487, 489 (Fla. 2d DCA 2017) (citing Volusia County v. Aberdeen at Ormond Beach, L.P., 760 So.2d 126, 130 (Fla. 2000)).
Summary judgment is proper only where the moving party shows conclusively that there are no genuine issues of material fact and that it is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. When the nonmoving party has alleged affirmative defenses, the moving party must conclusively refute the factual bases for the defenses or establish that they are legally insufficient. "The burden of proving the existence of genuine issues of material fact does not shift to the opposing party until the moving party has met its burden of proof."
Coral Wood Page, Inc. v. GRE Coral Wood, LP, 71 So.3d 251, 253 (Fla. 2d DCA 2011) (emphasis added) (citations omitted) (quoting Deutsch v. Global Fin. Servs., LLC, 976 So.2d 680, 682 (Fla. 2d DCA 2008)). "If the record reflects the existence of any genuine issue of material fact or the possibility of any issue, or if the record raises even the slightest doubt that an issue might exist, summary judgment is improper." Atria Grp., LLC v. One Progress Plaza, II, LLC, 170 So.3d 884, 886 (Fla. 2d DCA 2015) (quoting Holland v. Verheul, 583 So.2d 788, 789 (Fla. 2d DCA 1991)).
This court has held that in residential mortgage foreclosure cases, the plaintiff bears the burden of proving its standing at the time of trial and at the time it filed its complaint if the issue of standing is contested. See Corrigan v. Bank of Am., N.A., 189 So.3d 187, 189 (Fla. 2d DCA 2016) (en banc); see also Winchel v. PennyMac Corp., 222 So.3d 639, 642-43 (Fla. 2d DCA 2017) (noting the "legal oddity" that standing has become in residential foreclosure cases and summarizing, "[o]nce put at issue by a defendant, then, standing becomes a part of the prima facie case that a foreclosure plaintiff must prove in order to secure a judgment"). The summary judgment evidence regarding RALI's standing-challenged, as it was, by the Johnsons' affirmative defense-fell short of what was required for a summary adjudication.

References: v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v.