IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA
FIFTH DISTRICT
NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO
FILE MOTION FOR REHEARING AND
DISPOSITION THEREOF IF FILED
BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON F/K/A
BANK OF NEW YORK SUCCESSOR
TRUSTEE TO JPMORGAN CHASE
BANK, N.A., AS TRUSTEE FOR
THE STRUCTURED ASSET
MORTGAGE INVESTMENTS II
TRUST, ETC.,
Appellant,
v. Case No. 5D15-4248
DONALD L. VESSELS, JR., KAREN D.
VESSELS AND CATALINA ISLES/
SKYLARK HOMEOWNERS
ASSOCIATION, INC.,
Appellees.
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Opinion filed April 13, 2017
Appeal from the Circuit Court
for Brevard County,
Charles G. Crawford, Judge.
Nancy M. Wallace, of Akerman LLP,
Tallahassee, William P. Heller, of Akerman
LLP, Fort Lauderdale, and Eric M. Levine ,
of Akerman LLP, West Palm Beach, for
Appellant.
No Appearance for Appellees.
EVANDER, J.
The Bank of New York Mellon f/k/a The Bank of New York Successor Trustee to
JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., as Trustee for the Structured Asset Mortgage Investments
II Trust Mortgage Pass-Through Certificates, Series 2006-AR3 [“the Bank”], appeals the
final judgment of foreclosure entered in its favor, and against Donald and Karen Vessels,
with regard to the calculation of damages. The Bank contends that the trial court erred in
denying, on hearsay grounds, the admission of loan payment history records of prior
servicers of the mortgage. As a result of this evidentiary ruling, the Bank submits that the
trial court’s determination of the damages award was also erroneous. We reverse and
remand for a new trial solely on the issue of damages.
This court has previously held that loan payment histories of prior mortgage
servicers are admissible under the business records hearsay exception1 where they are
relied upon by a successor servicer who establishes that it adequately verified the
accuracy of the payment histories and that its verification procedures demonstrate that
the records are trustworthy. See, e.g., Bank of N.Y. Mellon v. Johnson, 185 So. 3d 594,
598 (Fla. 5th DCA 2016); Nationstar Mortg., LLC v. Berdecia, 169 So. 3d 209, 213-215
(Fla. 5th DCA 2015); Le v. U.S. Bank, 165 So. 3d 776, 778 (Fla. 5th DCA 2015).
Here, the Bank presented detailed testimony of the “on-boarding” process utilized
by the current servicer in verifying the information received from prior servicers. The
testimony was sufficient to meet the predicate necessary for admission of the prior
1 § 90.803(6), Fla. Stat. (2014).
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servicers’ loan payment histories. Accordingly, we conclude that the trial court abused
its discretion in excluding these records. See Johnson, 185 So. 3d at 598; Berdecia, 169
So. 3d at 216.
REVERSED and REMANDED for new trial on the issue of damages consistent
with this opinion.
BERGER and EDWARDS, JJ., concur.
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