OPINION
{1} Johnny Lance Johnston (Homeowner) appeals a judgment of foreclosure entered against him and in favor of Deutsche Bank National Trust Company (the Bank) after a bench trial in the district court. On appeal, Homeowner challenges the Bank’s standing to foreclose. He also argues against the validity of the loan and challenges evidentiary rulings by the district court. Because the Bank failed to establish that it had standing to foreclose when it filed its complaint for foreclosure, we reverse.
BACKGROUND
{2} In 2006, Homeowner refinanced the mortgage on his home through New Century Mortgage Corporation (New Century). He executed a promissory note made payable to New Century. The note was secured by a mortgage on Homeowner’s home. In 2008, Homeowner defaulted on the loan, and in February 2009, the Bank filed a complaint for foreclosure. Attached to the complaint was an unindorsed copy of Homeowner’s note made payable to New Century. The complaint asserted that Homeowner, in 2006, executed a note and mortgage, which were later assigned to the Bank; that Homeowner had not made any payments since July of 2008; and that the Bank was therefore entitled to foreclose upon the property for the remaining balance of the loan.
{3} On August 9, 2010, Homeowner filed a motion to dismiss, arguing in pertinent part that, because the note attached to the complaint showed New Century to be the current owner of the mortgage, the Bank failed to show ownership of the note at the time the Bank’s complaint was filed and that the complaint should be dismissed. The Bank filed its response on August 31, 2010, two weeks before the scheduled trial. The Bank attached a copy of an assignment of Homeowner’s mortgage (assignment) to its response. The assignment reflects that New Century assigned the mortgage to the Bank on February 7, 2006, a week after the note and mortgage were executed by Homeowner. However, the assignment was not recorded in the land records office until December 9, 2009, or nine months after the complaint was filed.
{4} The trial commenced on September 16, 2010. At trial the Bank introduced the original note, indorsed in blank. The Bank did not introduce any evidence to show when the note was indorsed or when the B ank came to possess the indorsed note. After one day of trial, due to Homeowner’s medical condition, the trial was continued to October 5, 2010. On September 21, 2010, during the interim between the first and second days of the continued trial, Homeowner filed a motion requesting that the judge permit Lynn E. Szymoniak to testify as an expert regarding his challenge to the assignment as a false and fabricated document. Homeowner further requested that the matter of whether his expert would be allowed to testify be addressed in a hearing at the beginning of the resumption of trial. On October 5, 2010, before resuming the bench trial, the district court heard arguments regarding Homeowner’s motion to allow expert testimony regarding the alleged fraudulent nature of the assignment. The district court found that Homeowner’s request was untimely and that the proposed expert testimony was not relevant. Homeowner’s motion was denied. The trial proceeded and was concluded the same day.
{5} After the trial, the district court entered findings of fact and conclusions of law, which provided that New Century Bank validly assigned its interest to the Bank, that Homeowner defaulted on the note, and that the Bank was entitled to a foreclosure judgment. The district court entered a judgment of foreclosure from which Homeowner now appeals.
DISCUSSION
{6} On appeal, Homeowner argues: (1) the documentary evidence submitted by the Bank to establish its standing to enforce the note and to foreclose on the mortgage is insufficient as a matter of law; (2) the district court abused its discretion in refusing to allow Homeowner’s expert witness to testify as to the authenticity of the Bank’s assignment; (3) the Bank violated NMSA 1978, § 58-21A-4(B) (2003, amended 2009) of the New Mexico Home Loan Protection Act (HLPA), NMSA 1978, §§ 58-21A-1 to -14 (2003, as amended through 2009); and (4) the Bank perpetrated a fraud on the court by seeking to summarily foreclose without establishing standing and by relying on a fraudulent assignment to establish standing. Because we conclude that the Bank did not have standing to foreclose, we do not address Homeowner’s arguments related to his proposed expert witness and alleged HLPA violation. We further conclude that Homeowner did not properly preserve his argument that the Bank perpetrated a fraud on the court and we decline his request to impose sanctions.
A. Standard of Review
{7} The determinative issues in this case involve evidentiary challenges to the district court’s findings of fact and conclusions of law. Specifically, the district court determined the Bank’s standing as a factual matter, therefore “we apply a substantial evidence standard of review.” Miller v. Bank of Am., N.A., 2013-NMCA-_, ¶ 11,_P.3d_ (No. 31, 463, Dec. 10, 2013). “ ‘Substantial evidence’ means relevant evidence that a reasonable mind could accept as adequate to support a conclusion.” Sims v. Sims,
B. Deutsche Bank Lacks Standing to Foreclose
{8} While this case was pending, our Supreme Court decided Bank of N.Y. v. Romero,
1. The Bank’s Right to Enforce the Note
{9} Though the Bank maintains that it was the holder of Homeowner’s note at the time it filed for foreclosure, it attached a copy of the note to its complaint that was unindorsed and made payable to New Century. In Romero, our Supreme Court expressly held that an unindorsed note made payable to a third party does not establish standing to foreclose.
{10} At trial, twenty months after the complaint for foreclosure was filed, the Bank produced a note that was significantly different from the one attached to its complaint. The note produced at trial included a blank undated indorsement. “A blank indorsement. . . does not identify a person to whom the instrument is payable but instead makes it payable to anyone who holds it as bearer paper.” Id. ¶ 24. Typically, the bearer of a note indorsed in blank is the holder of that note. See NMSA 1978, § 55-3-104(a)(l), (b), (e) (1992) (defining “negotiable instrument” as including a “note” made “payable to bearer orto order”);NMSA 1978, § 55-3-301 (1992) (defining “[p]erson entitled to enforce” a negotiable instrument); see also Romero,
{11} Romero did not directly address whether an undated indorsement in blank, produced after the filing of the foreclosure complaint is sufficient to establish standing. In that case, the Bank of New York attached an unindorsed note to its complaint and, at trial, admitted a different “original” note that contained two undated indorsements.
{12} Although no New Mexico caseshave addressed this issue, courts in other jurisdictions have held that a lender seeking to establish its right to enforce a note must produce the indorsed note with the complaint for foreclosure; if the lender produces the indorsed note after filing the complaint, the indorsement must be dated to show that the indorsement was executed prior to the initiation of the foreclosure suit. See Bank of Am., NA v. Kabba,
{13} In this case, the blank indorsement on the note the Bank introduced at trial was not dated, making it impossible to tell when the indorsement was executed. Therefore, while the indorsed note was sufficient to show that the Bank was the holder of the note at the time of trial, it failed to show that the Bank was the holder at the time it filed its complaint for foreclosure. We conclude that neither the unindorsed copy of the note produced with the foreclosure complaint nor the indorsed note produced at trial were sufficient to show that the Bank held the note when it filed the complaint. The Bank offers no explanation as to why it produced an unindorsed copy of the note made payable to New Century instead of the indorsed note if it indeed had possession of the indorsed note when the complaint was filed. The bottom line is the Bank needed to show it possessed the proper supporting documentation when it filed the foreclosure complaint. Kabba,
2. The Assignment of Mortgage Does Not Transfer the Note
{14} The district court in this case relied on the date of the assignment to establish the timing of the note’s indorsement. New Century Mortgage Corporation validly assigned their interest in the Mortgage and endorsed the Note to Plaintiff, as evidenced by the Assignment of Mortgage endorsed February 7,2006, and recorded in the Records of Dona Ana County at Reception No. 0933345 on December 9, 2009, in addition to the court’s review of the original Note. However, an assignment of mortgage is separate from the note and does not by itself transfer ownership of the note. See Romero,
{15} In summary, the Bank’s documentary evidence (the unindorsed note, the undated indorsed note, and the assignment) was insufficient to establish that the Bank was the holder of the note when it filed for foreclosure. We conclude that the Bank did not have standing to foreclose and, as a result, the evidentiary issues and the HLPA violation issue are moot. See Gunaji v. Macias,
C. Fraud Argument Not Preserved
{16} Lastly, we address Homeowner’s remaining argument. He asserts that the Bank committed fraud on the court by filing its foreclosure complaint with documents that failed to establish the Bank’s standing to foreclose and that the Bank’s conduct should be sanctioned. However, “[t]o preserve an issue for review on appeal, it must appear that appellant fairly invoked a ruling of the [district] court on the same grounds argued in the appellate court.” Woolwine v. Furr’s, Inc.,
{17} Our Supreme Court has established that lenders seeking to foreclose in New Mexico must have standing to foreclose at the time the complaint is filed. Romero,
CONCLUSION
{18} For the foregoing reasons, we reverse and remand this matter to the district court with instructions to vacate its judgment of foreclosure. We need not address Homeowner’s arguments related to evidentiary matters and HLPA.
{19} IT IS SO ORDERED.