On October 1, 2025, the Second Department issued a decision in Citimortgage, Inc. v. Rooney, 2025 NY Slip Op. 05214, holding that the failure to authenticate business records barred recovery in a foreclosure action, explaining:
Though the plaintiff is correct that the Benning affidavit provided a sufficient foundation for the admission of the business records submitted with the referee’s report, those business records themselves were insufficient to establish the amounts attested to in the Benning affidavit, as they did not include the payment history with a monthly accounting of the loan. That omission was corrected in the supplemental business records, but the supplemental business records were not identified by Benning or otherwise incorporated into her affidavit. Rather, those records were attached as an exhibit to a letter of the plaintiff’s attorney, and the attorney did not allege personal knowledge of the plaintiff’s record-keeping practices and procedures. Under these circumstances, the plaintiff failed to lay a proper foundation for the admission of the payment records into evidence, and the Benning affidavit regarding the amount due remained inadmissible hearsay. For this reason, the referee’s findings were not substantially supported by the record.
(Internal citations omitted).