CitiMortgage, Inc. v. Hoskinson

CourtCourt of Appeal of Florida (US)
Citation200 So.3d 191
Docket NumberNo. 5D14–4500.,5D14–4500.
Parties CITIMORTGAGE, INC., Appellant, v. Barbra A. HOSKINSON, et al., Appellees.
Decision Date08 July 2016

Heidi J. Bassett, of Robertson, Anschutz & Schneid, P.L., Boca Raton, for Appellant.

Adam H. Sudbury, of Appellee Legal Services, PLLC, Orlando, for Appellees Barbra A. Hoskinson and Michael P. Hoskinson.

No Appearance for other Appellees.

PER CURIAM.

In this mortgage foreclosure action, we review the propriety of an involuntary dismissal and final judgment entered in favor of Appellees, the mortgagors. Because the lower court based the dismissal on an incorrect evidentiary ruling, we reverse.

At a nonjury trial, Appellant presented one witness, through whom it sought to introduce into evidence various documents, including a notice of breach and acceleration letter. Sending such a letter was a condition precedent to acceleration of the note and foreclosure of the mortgage. Appellees objected to introduction of the letter on hearsay grounds, arguing that the witness was not qualified to lay the necessary foundation to bring the letter within the business records exception to the hearsay rule. § 90.803(6)(a), Fla. Stat. (2014)

. The trial court agreed.

Any qualified witness who has the necessary knowledge to testify as to how a document was made may lay the foundation to bring the document within the business records exception. Twilegar v. State, 42 So.3d 177, 199 (Fla.2010)

. All that is required is that the witness be ‘well enough acquainted with the activity to give the testimony.’ Nationstar Mortg., LLC v. Berdecia, 169 So.3d 209, 213 (Fla. 5th DCA 2015) (quoting Alexander v. Allstate Ins. Co., 388 So.2d 592, 593 (Fla. 5th DCA 1980) ). Appellant's witness met this criteria. She testified that Appellant's customer service department generates breach letters when mortgage payments become delinquent. The letters are delivered to Appellant's mail room on the day they are prepared and are collected by the postal service that day or the following day. Although the witness had never worked in the customer service department, she had trained side-by-side with someone in that department and had observed the entire process from generating the breach letters to delivering them to the mailroom. As such, she was qualified to authenticate the letter as a business record.

We further conclude that Appellant offered sufficient evidence to show that the letter was mailed. A rebuttable presumption of mailing...

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15 cases
  • Mace v. M&T Bank
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • March 25, 2020
    ...was mailed. See, e.g., Thorlton v. Nationstar Mortg., LLC, 257 So. 3d 596, 601-02 (Fla. 2d DCA 2018) ; CitiMortgage, Inc. v. Hoskinson, 200 So. 3d 191, 192 (Fla. 5th DCA 2016). And a third is properly admitted records—such as a return receipt or a log entry generated upon mailing—that bear ......
  • PNC Bank Nat'l Ass'n v. Roberts
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • April 27, 2018
    ...Series 2007–HE2 Tr. v. Manning, 221 So.3d 677, 681–82 (Fla. 4th DCA 2017) ; Allen, 216 So.3d at 688 (citing CitiMortgage, Inc. v. Hoskinson, 200 So.3d 191, 192 (Fla. 5th DCA 2016) ); State Farm Fire & Cas. Co. v. Higgins, 788 So.2d 992, 1007 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001) (citing Best Meridian Ins. Co......
  • Jackson v. Household Fin. Corp.
    • United States
    • Florida Supreme Court
    • July 2, 2020
    ...of the records, and the trial court erred in admitting the documents without a proper foundation. Cf. CitiMortgage, Inc. v. Hoskinson , 200 So. 3d 191, 192 (Fla. 5th DCA 2016) (holding that a witness was qualified to lay the foundation for a letter as a business record because she testified......
  • Spencer v. Ditech Fin., LLC
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • April 4, 2018
    ...of the company's routine practice for mailing letters. See id.; Edmonds, 215 So.3d at 630 ; see also CitiMortgage, Inc. v. Hoskinson, 200 So.3d 191, 192 (Fla. 5th DCA 2016) (holding that there was sufficient evidence to establish mailing based on routine business practices where witness tes......
  • Request a trial to view additional results
3 books & journal articles
  • Chapter 2-2 Notice of Default and Opportunity to Cure
    • United States
    • Full Court Press Florida Foreclosure Law 2022 Chapter 2 Default and Acceleration
    • Invalid date
    ...routine practice by an employee who had seen the routine practice first hand was held sufficient. CitiMortgage, Inc. v. Hoskinson, 200 So. 3d 191, 192 (Fla. 5th DCA 2016) (reversing involuntary dismissal after trial, where plaintiff's witness had personally seen the company's routine practi......
  • Chapter 12-1 Introduction
    • United States
    • Full Court Press Florida Foreclosure Law 2020 Title Chapter 12 Motions for Summary Judgment in Foreclosure Cases
    • Invalid date
    ...the business activities.'" (quoting Charles W. Ehrhardt, Florida Evidence § 803.6 (2014 ed.)).[119] See CitiMortgage, Inc. v. Hoskinson, 200 So. 3d 191, 192 (Fla. 5th DCA 2016) (A qualified witness with the requisite knowledge to lay the foundation for the business records exception is one ......
  • Chapter 2-2 Notice of Default and Opportunity to Cure
    • United States
    • Full Court Press Florida Foreclosure Law 2020 Title Chapter 2 Default and Acceleration
    • Invalid date
    ...routine practice by an employee who had seen the routine practice first hand was held sufficient. CitiMortgage, Inc. v. Hoskinson, 200 So. 3d 191, 192 (Fla. 5th DCA 2016) (reversing involuntary dismissal after trial, where plaintiff's witness had personally seen the company's routine practi......

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