Law Offices of Steven J. Baum loses another of JPMorgan Chase for lack of standing

By:  Nicholas M. Moccia
       Law Offices of Robert E. Brown, P.C.

It appears the attorneys at the Law Offices of Steven J. Baum have developed an exquisite expertise in commencing foreclosure actions for Plaintiffs who lack standing to foreclose.   It appears, moreover, that Baum's attorneys are developing a masochistic tendency to find themselves in front of Justice Arthur M. Schack whenever this is the case.

In JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. v George 2010 NY Slip Op 50786(U), Justice Schack once again vacated a judgment of foreclosure and sale and dismissed a foreclosure action for lack of standing.  Perhaps not surprisingly, Baum's attorneys did not even bother to oppose the Defendant’s order to show cause from which Justice Schack’s decision arose.

Justice Schack notes that in order to have standing to commence a foreclosure action, the Plaintiff must demonstrate (1) the existence of the mortgage and the mortgage note, (2) ownership of the mortgage, and (3) the defendant's default in payment.  Schack humorously observes that the Plaintiff's complaint reveals an utter lack of awareness as to where the mortgage and note were even recorded, let alone whether the Plaintiff was the holder of the note at the time the foreclosure action was commenced.  Justice Schack writes:

Then, plaintiff CHASE commenced the instant foreclosure action by filing the summons, complaint and notice of pendency with the Office of the Kings County Clerk on April 7, 2006. Plaintiff CHASE, in ¶ 1 of the instant complaint, alleges that it "is the holder of a mortgage bearing date the 17th day of September 2004 executed by GERTRUDE GEORGE to secure the sum of $381,500.00 and recorded at Instrument No. 2005000206826 in the Office of the Clerk of the County of KINGS, on the 11th day of April 2005; said mortgage is to be duly assigned by an Assignment to be recorded in the Office of the Clerk of KINGS County [sic] [Emphasis added]." Plaintiff's counsel, who has commenced thousands of foreclosures in Kings County, should be aware that mortgages in Kings County are recorded in the City Register of the City of New York, not the Office of the Kings County Clerk.

Worse still, Justice Schack points out that the foreclosure action was commenced before the note and mortgage were actually assigned to Chase—this means Chase did not in fact own the note and mortgagewhen they started the foreclosure.  As Justice Schack notes, "Standing to sue is critical to the proper functioning of the judicial system. It is a threshold issue. If standing is denied, the pathway to the courthouse is blocked. The plaintiff who has standing, however, may cross the threshold and seek judicial redress." (Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce, Inc. v Pataki, 100 NY2d 801 812 [2003], cert denied 540 US 1017 [2003]). Without standing, a case is dead on arrival.

Nevertheless, it seems Baum's attorneys have a mental block on the standing issue, and trip up with surprising regularity in this regard.   See Option One Mortg. Corp. v. Duke, 2009 WL 2505751 (Sup. Ct. Kings County 2009)(dismissed for lack of standing)(brought by Steven J. Baum, PC, Buffalo, NY, for Plaintiff); HSBC Bank USA, N.A. v. Vasquez,  2009 WL 2581672 (Sup. Ct.  Kings County 2009)(dismissed for lack of standing)(brought by Steven J. Baum, PC, Buffalo, for Plaintiff); Citigroup Global Markets Realty Corp. v. Randolph Bowling, 2009 WL 4893940 (Sup. Ct. 2009)(dismissed for lack of standing)(brought by Steven J. Baum, PC, Amherst, for Plaintiff); U.S. Bank Nat. Ass'n v. White, 2009 WL 159588, 1 (Sup. Ct. Kings County 2009)(dismissed for lack of standing)(brought by Steven J. Baum, PC, Amherst, for Plaintiff); U.S. Bank Nat. Ass'n v. Bernard, 2008 WL 383814 (Sup. Ct. Kings County 2008)(dismissed for lack of standing)(brought by Steven J. Baum, PC, Amherst, for Plaintiff); Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. v. Farmer, 2008 WL 2309006 (Sup. Ct. Kings County 2008)(dismissed for lack of standing)(brought by Steven J. Baum, PC, Buffalo, for Plaintiff); Ameriquest Mortg. Co. v. Basevich, 2007 WL 1815992, 1 (Sup. Ct. Kings County 2007)(dismissed for lack of standing)(brought by Steven J. Baum, PC, Amherst, NY, for Plaintiff).

Mr. Baum, you might consider making your team of attorneys take a field trip to the Brooklyn City Register—the address is 210 Joralemon Street, Brooklyn, New York.  Mapquest is a beautiful thing.