Opinion ID: 2323322
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Summary Judgment in Foreclosure Proceedings

Text: [¶ 6] We review a court's entry of summary judgment de novo, viewing the facts in the light most favorable to the party against whom summary judgment was entered. See Murphy, 2011 ME 59, ¶ 8, 19 A.3d at 819. To obtain a summary judgment of foreclosure, a mortgage holder must establish that there are no disputes of facts that are material to the elements required for foreclosure [3] and that the mortgage holder is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. See M.R. Civ. P. 56(c). The facts offered in support of summary judgment must be properly presented for a court to enter summary judgment for the mortgage holder: Supporting and opposing affidavits shall be made on personal knowledge, shall set forth such facts as would be admissible in evidence, and shall show affirmatively that the affiant is competent to testify to the matters stated therein. M.R. Civ. P. 56(e). The record references must refer to evidence that is of a quality that would be admissible at trial. Murphy, 2011 ME 59, ¶ 9, 19 A.3d at 819. [¶ 7] Beneficial attempted to support its statement of material facts with the affidavit of Shana Richmond, an individual who was not Beneficial's employee. The cursory reference in Richmond's affidavit to her knowledge of the critical issueshow Beneficial created, maintained, and produced the recordsprompts us to clarify the foundation of knowledge that a nonemployee must possess to be a qualified witness to lay the foundation for a business record, M.R. Evid. 803(6), in an affidavit to support summary judgment in a foreclosure action, M.R. Civ. P. 56(j). [¶ 8] In reviewing the adequacy of the affidavit presented in this case, we (A) discuss our standard of review for the challenged ruling, (B) summarize the foundational elements and knowledge required for an affiant to establish the admissibility of a business record, and (C) review the adequacy of the affidavit presented by Beneficial to determine whether summary judgment was appropriate in this case.