Bank of Am., N.A. v. Jackson, 2014 Ohio 2480

In 2001 Jeffrey and Shelly Jackson executed a $267,500 promissory note and mortgage in favor of Bank of America to refinance their 1998 property; payments stopped in March 2011.
Bank of America filed a foreclosure complaint in 2011 and later moved for summary judgment, supporting the motion with an affidavit from Katherine Weir and copies (imaged) of the note, mortgage, payment history, and acceleration notice.
The Jacksons opposed, arguing Bank of America lacked standing (claiming Freddie Mac owned the loan), submitted affidavits and servicer letters from Nationstar, and moved to compel production of the original note and to strike portions of Weir’s affidavit.
Bank of America moved to substitute Nationstar as plaintiff after assigning the note and mortgage to Nationstar in 2012; the trial court granted substitution, denied the Jacksons’ motions, and granted summary judgment for Bank of America/Nationstar, ordering a sheriff’s sale.
On appeal the Jacksons challenged (1) the trial court’s denial of their motion to strike Weir’s affidavit, (2) denial of their motion to inspect the original note, (3) the grant of summary judgment, and (4) the standing of Bank of America/Nationstar to foreclose.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Admissibility/personal knowledge of affidavit	Affidavit from Bank officer (Weir) is based on personal knowledge and authenticates business records	Weir lacked personal knowledge of possession/authenticity of original note and acceleration	Court: Overruled motion to strike; affidavit sufficient and records fall under business-records exception
Production of original note	Duplicate/imaged copy is admissible; substitution to Nationstar shows current holder status	Original note must be produced to prove possession/standing	Court: Duplicate admissible under Evid.R.1003; no genuine question of authenticity; denial of inspection proper
Standing to foreclose	Bank of America (and Nationstar by substitution) held the note and mortgage and thus had standing to foreclose	Jacksons claim Freddie Mac owned the loan and that servicer letters create doubt about holder	Court: Bank/Nationstar were proper parties; evidence showed possession/assignment; standing satisfied
Summary judgment on foreclosure and acceleration	No genuine issue of material fact; acceleration notice valid; moving party entitled to judgment as matter of law	Jacksons argued factual disputes on holder and acceleration procedure	Court: Grant of summary judgment affirmed; no material factual dispute requiring trial

State ex rel. Ebbing v. Ricketts, 133 Ohio St.3d 339 (2012) (abuse-of-discretion standard for reviewing motion-to-strike rulings)
Harless v. Willis Day Warehousing Co., 54 Ohio St.2d 64 (1978) (moving party bears burden to show no genuine issue of material fact for summary judgment)
Mootispaw v. Eckstein, 76 Ohio St.3d 383 (1996) (nonmoving party must present specific facts showing a genuine triable issue)