By: Douglas L. Waldorf, Jr.
There have been several articles posted on this blog on the subject of standing – the legal right to enforce a promissory note and/or mortgage. This continues to be a popular issue for defense counsel to raise and, as a result, relevant and current caselaw is abundant.
I have a couple of observations in this regard. First, the majority of reported decisions involve appeals of entry of summary final judgment. Florida attorneys understand that the standard for entry of summary judgment involves a finding that there are no disputed issues of material fact. In many of the cases on standing, the plaintiff lender failed to establish this at the summary judgment hearing. That does not mean that in all of these cases standing cannot be established. It may ultimately be if the summary judgment preparation and hearing is done correctly with adequate evidence of standing presented.