The Bank of New York v. John B. Dyer, 130 A.3d 966

In 2003 Dyer executed a $997,000 promissory note secured by a mortgage on Bar Harbor property; the mortgage named MERS as lender’s nominee.
The Bank of New York (as trustee) sued to foreclose in 2008, alleging default and seeking judgment for over $1,014,000.
At trial the Bank could not produce the original note and acknowledged inability to establish standing to foreclose; parts of the trial were continued and the Bank amended to add Countrywide as a party-in-interest.
After three trial days spanning 2013–2014 the Bank moved to dismiss its complaint without prejudice because it could not, within the time available, marshal the evidence to prove standing in light of recent Maine precedent.
The District Court granted dismissal without prejudice and refused to award additional attorney fees beyond an earlier sanction award for the Bank’s discovery failure; Dyer appealed the denial of a dismissal with prejudice and additional fees.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether dismissal should be with or without prejudice when plaintiff cannot prove standing	Bank: dismissal without prejudice is appropriate to allow potential future proof of standing	Dyer: dismissal should be with prejudice as sanction for Bank’s evidentiary failings	Dismissal without prejudice is required because lack of standing renders the claim nonjusticiable and prevents adjudication on the merits
Whether lack of standing is jurisdictional	Bank: implicit that standing defect can be cured; not jurisdictional	Dyer: argued the Bank’s failures justify a final adjudication	Court: lack of standing is a justiciability (threshold) defect, not a jurisdictional defect; court retains jurisdiction but cannot decide merits
Whether dismissal without prejudice was an abuse of discretion	Dyer: after repeated trial attempts, dismissal without prejudice improperly benefits Bank	Bank: Court acted within discretion given inability to prove standing	No abuse of discretion—precedent requires dismissal without prejudice when standing is lacking
Whether additional attorney fees/costs should be awarded to Dyer	Dyer: sought full fees and costs for all trial days and Bank’s delay	Bank: argued prior sanction/award sufficed	Trial court’s award of first-day costs/fees was sufficient; appellate court found no abuse of discretion in denying additional fees

Homeward Residential, Inc. v. Gregor, 122 A.3d 947 (2015) (when plaintiff lacks standing, court must dismiss without prejudice rather than decide merits)
Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. v. Girouard, 123 A.3d 216 (2015) (standing is a threshold, justiciability requirement, not jurisdictional)
Bank of America, N.A. v. Greenleaf, 124 A.3d 1122 (2015) (confirmed dismissal without prejudice is proper when plaintiff cannot show standing)
Bank of America, N.A. v. Greenleaf, 96 A.3d 700 (2014) (addressed problematic MERS/nominee language and evidentiary issues relevant to standing)
U.S. Bank Nat’l Ass’n v. Manning, 97 A.3d 605 (2014) (standard of review for dismissal without prejudice is abuse of discretion)
Johnson v. Samson Constr. Corp., 704 A.2d 866 (1997) (dismissal with prejudice operates as adjudication on the merits)
Jandreau v. LaChance, 116 A.3d 1273 (2015) (standard of review for awards of attorney fees and costs)