Florida/Georgia Personal Injury & Workers Compensation

...ercial Code.” Under the Uniform Commercial Code, the placement of the undated blank endorsement on the original note after the filing of the verified complaint and certification did not affect the original note’s authenticity and enforceability. Section 673.4071, Florida Statutes (2015), entitled “Alteration,” provides, in pertinent part: (1) The term “alteration” means: (a) An unauthorized, change in an instrument which change purports to modify in any respect the obligation of a party, ......

...[A]n alteration fraudulently made discharges a party whose obligation is affected by the alteration unless that party assents or is precluded from asserting the alteration. No other alteration discharges a party, and the instrument may be enforced according to its original terms. (emphasis added). Applying section 673.4071 here, the placement of the undated blank endorsement on the original note after the filing of the verified complaint and certification did not constitute an “alteration.” No evidence existed to show that the endorsement was “unauthorized” or “purported to modify in any respect the obligation of a party” (in this case, defendant Jimenez). § 673.4071(l)(a), Fla. Stat. (2015). As such, the original note “may be enforced according to its original terms.” § 673.4071(2), Fla....

...at 734-35 . The First District further concluded that, even assuming the notes were materially altered, the mortgagors’ argument still failed. Id. at 735 . According to our sister court: Section 673.407(2)(a), Florida Statutes [the predecessor to section 673.4071], requires proof that the alteration in question was undertaken for fraudulent purposes....