Although Mr. Benefield repeatedly testified that he was relying on “the pooling and servicing agreement” for proof that Deutsche Bank had standing to enforce the note, no actual pooling and servicing agreement, indorsement, or other evidence of negotiation of the note at issue from Long Beach Mortgage Company to any entity is contained in Plaintiff’s Exhibit 3 or elsewhere in the record.
The Lacombes, defendants below, appeal the final judgment of foreclosure against them and in favor of Deutsche Bank National Trust Co., as Trustee for Long Beach Mortgage Loan Trust 2006-2 (“Deutsche Bank”). Appellants assert that the evidence presented at the bench trial was insufficient to support the trial court’s judgment because Deutsche Bank’s documents and witness did not prove the bank’s standing to bring the foreclosure action.
We agree and the judgment is thus reversed.
Because the final judgment was based on a bench trial and Appellants challenge the sufficiency of the evidence to support the judgment, the general rule requiring specific contemporaneous objection to preserve the asserted error for appeal does not apply.
Rather, rule 1.530(e), Florida Rules of Civil Procedure allows review of the sufficiency of the evidence despite any deficiencies in the objections made at trial and absence of post-trial motions. Rule 1.530(e) applies to appeals challenging the sufficiency of the evidence in mortgage foreclosure actions after bench trial. See Correa v. U.S. Bank N.A., 118 So. 3d 952, 954 (Fla. 2d DCA 2013). Accordingly, Appellants’ challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence is properly before this court.
We review the sufficiency of the evidence to prove standing to bring a foreclosure action de novo. Dixon v. Express Equity Lending Grp., 125 So. 3d 965 (Fla. 4th DCA 2013).
![DONATE TO THE LAST STAND](https://cdn.lawsintexas.com/cb:Eo5i~20d8c/w:350/h:350/q:eco/f:best/ig:avif/https://lawsintexas.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/LITAMOLASTSTAND-1.png")
