NAJAM, Judge.
Roger Buchanan and Susan Buchanan appeal the trial court's grant of summary judgment in favor of HSBC Mortgage Services, Inc. ("HSBC") in this foreclosure action. The Buchanans raise two issues on appeal which we restate as:
We affirm.
On July 28, 2006, the Buchanans executed a promissory note ("the note") and mortgage for the purchase of a house in Madison for $235,000. The original lender was Accredited Home Lenders, Inc. ("Accredited"), and the mortgage listed Mortgage Electronic Registrations Systems, Inc. ("MERS")
On December 29, 2008, HSBC filed a complaint to foreclose against the Buchanans. And in March 2009, HSBC filed a motion for default
Following a hearing on the summary judgment motions in May 2010, the trial court took the matter under advisement. The parties filed supplemental memoranda with the court. In July 2011, the Buchanans filed a second summary judgment motion and, in the alternative, a motion for partial summary judgment. Following a hearing on the Buchanans' second summary judgment motion and motion for partial summary judgment in October 2011, the trial court took the matter under advisement.
On October 26, 2012, the trial court entered summary judgment for HSBC and found and concluded in relevant part as follows:
Appellants' App. at 340-42. This appeal ensued.
Our standard of review for summary judgment appeals is well established:
Dreaded, Inc. v. St. Paul Guardian Ins. Co., 904 N.E.2d 1267, 1269-70 (Ind.2009) (citations omitted). The party appealing a summary judgment decision has the burden of persuading this court that the grant or denial of summary judgment was erroneous. Knoebel v. Clark County Superior Court No. 1, 901 N.E.2d 529, 531-32 (Ind. Ct.App.2009). Where the facts are undisputed and the issue presented is a pure question of law, we review the matter de novo. Crum v. City of Terre Haute ex rel. Dep't of Redev., 812 N.E.2d 164, 166 (Ind. Ct.App.2004). While we are not bound by the trial court's findings and conclusions and give them no deference, they aid our review by providing the reasons for the trial court's decision. See GDC Envtl. Servs. Inc. v. Ransbottom Landfill, 740 N.E.2d 1254, 1257 (Ind.Ct.App.2000).
The Buchanans first contend that the trial court erred when it found that HSBC was the holder of the note. The Buchanans allege that there are genuine issues of material fact precluding summary judgment on this pivotal question. In essence, the Buchanans maintain that the validity of the assignment of the note to HSBC is in doubt. In support of that contention, the Buchanans assert that: the note attached to HSBC's complaint did not include an endorsement; the allonge
In support of summary judgment, HSBC designated as evidence an allonge showing that the promissory note was endorsed in blank. As such, the note was converted into a bearer instrument pursuant to Indiana Code Section 26-1-3.1-109(a)(2) ("A promise or order is payable to bearer if it: ... (2) does not state a payee.") Thus, HSBC demonstrated that it was the holder of the bearer instrument, and it was entitled to enforce the instrument
The undisputed designated evidence shows that Accredited transferred the note to HSBC in 2006. And the Buchanans do not direct us to any authority to support their assertions that the lack of a date on the allonge renders it invalid, that HSBC's failure to attach the allonge to its complaint is fatal to its claim, or that an original of a note is required to be attached to a complaint. Indeed, HSBC has designated as evidence an affidavit stating that it has the original note in its possession and will make it available to the trial court upon request. And while Indiana Code Section 26-1-3.1-204 requires that the allonge be affixed to the note, there is no evidence in the record to indicate that the allonge is not so affixed. HSBC did not include the allonge when it filed its complaint, but under Trial Rule 9.2(F), a plaintiff may amend its complaint to correct the omission of a required written instrument.
Finally, the Buchanans' contention that Jacquelyn Rohrscheib may not have had the authority to execute the allonge is not supported by the designated evidence. The only evidence in support of that contention is a list dated June 1, 2009, purporting to contain the names of then-current and former officers with Accredited.
The Buchanans have not demonstrated the existence of any genuine issue of material fact precluding summary judgment. The trial court did not err when it found that HSBC is the holder of the note.
The Buchanans also contend that the "mortgage lacked the requisite acknowledgement and was unenforceable." Brief of Appellants at 20. In support of that contention, the Buchanans point out that the notary public who acknowledged their execution of the mortgage "had no power to take acknowledgements in Indiana nor did he have the power to take oaths given outside of his commission by the State of Kentucky." Id. at 21-22. The Buchanans rely on this court's opinion in Frazer v. McMillin & Carson, 94 Ind.App. 431, 179 N.E. 564, 567 (1932), where we observed that "the official activities of a notary public are limited to the political division for which he is appointed and commissioned, and that his acts outside his territorial limits are void."
But for purposes of this appeal, we need not decide whether the mortgage was properly acknowledged. The Buchanans do not deny that they executed the mortgage and note when they purchased their home in 2006. And it is well settled that "[a]n unacknowledged instrument is binding between parties and their privies." Hunter v. Milhous, 159 Ind.App. 105, 305 N.E.2d 448, 458 n. 3 (1973). In other words, as between the Buchanans, Accredited, and Accredited's remote assignee, HSBC, the notarial acknowledgement is insignificant. The Buchanans' contention on this issue is without merit.
Affirmed.
MATHIAS, J., and BROWN, J., concur.