The law does not say you show me some paper saying I have an agreement to transfer the note that you are the note holder.
You don’t produce the physical docs, you got squat.
Judge absolutely nailed this one 100% correctly.
You can’t produce the physical mortgage and prove you are the holder of it you have ZERO right to file foreclosure.
Where does it say in the article that they did not produce the original note and mortgage? Maybe I missed it, but from what I read, the judge was complaining only that there was not assignment of the mortgage to DB.
BTW, there are statutes that specifically allow a party to sue on a lost note and mortgage. The judge might be able to require the plaintiff to post a bond to protect the mortgagor if it turns out later that another party actually has possession of them, but you don’t always have to produce the originals.