Commercial Litigation and Arbitration

Merely Notarizing Email Does Not Render It Non-Hearsay

The bank in Shah v.Flagstar Bank, 2007 Mich. App. LEXIS 2678 (Mich. App. Nov. 29, 2007), a foreclosure action, moved for summary judgment. In order to prove non-payment, it offered a letter it sent to homeowners referencing their non-payment, but the court excluded the letter as hearsay when it was offered to establish the homeowners' failure to make payment. The bank also offered an email sent by a bank officer to defense counsel. In an effort to stave off a hearsay objection, the bank officer notarized the signature as his. Held, insufficient to support a grant of summary judgment: “Although the signature of the vice-president on a copy of the email was notarized, it was not the equivalent of an affidavit because the author did not swear to the accuracy of his answers or indicate that his answers were based on personal knowledge.”

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