Borrowers continue to use chain of title challenges to try to stave off asset foreclosures. In HSBC Bank v. Roumiantseva, a paperclip tipped the scales in favor of the defendant-borrowers. The lender had attached the endorsements to a promissory note, called the allonge, with a paperclip, instead of writing the endorsement directly on the note itself. The court dismissed the lender’s foreclosure complaint, finding that the lender had failed to demonstrate it was the holder of the note.

Lesson learned: If you need a separate piece of paper for the allonge, affix it so the note becomes an extension, or a part of, the note itself.