Chapter 4-3 Allonges to Promissory Notes

4-3 Allonges to Promissory Notes

An allonge is a piece of paper annexed to a promissory note, on which to write indorsements for which there is no room on the instrument itself.¹³ An allonge is an elegant-sounding legal term for a supplemental attachment to a note in which indorsements to subsequent note holders may be identified.¹⁴ An allonge may be executed prior to the execution of the note so long as it is subsequently affixed to the note.¹⁵ Florida's Uniform Commercial Code does not specifically mention an allonge, but notes that for the purpose of determining whether a signature is made on an instrument, a paper affixed to the instrument is part of the instrument.¹⁶ The rationale underlying the affixation requirement is to protect subsequent purchasers from the risk that the present holder or a previous holder has negotiated the instrument to someone outside the apparent chain of title through a separate document.¹⁷ Where an allonge contains evidence of a clear intent that the note and the allonge were to be physically attached to each other, such evidence of intent is sufficient to establish a valid indorsement under the UCC.¹⁸ Evidence of an intent that the note and allonge were to be physically attached to each other exists where the note and allonge are imaged in the mortgage company's loan file together, the face of the allonge states that it is affixed to and is part of the original note, contains the borrower's name, loan number, loan amount, property address, and date of the note.¹⁹ Because an allonge is essentially part of the note, the bank must file the original allonge together with the original note to prove standing to foreclose.²⁰

--------

Notes:

^[13] Booker v. Sarasota, Inc., 707 So. 2d 886, 887 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998) (citing the Black's Law Dictionary definition of "allonge," which states that "[the allonge] must be so firmly affixed thereto as to become a part thereof").

^[14] In Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. v. Bohatka, 112 So. 3d 596 (Fla. 1st DCA 2013), (the trial court dismissed the plaintiff's complaint with prejudice at a motion to dismiss hearing, where the bank's attorney appeared at the hearing with a copy of the allonge that he claimed would provide the plaintiff with standing to foreclose. The trial court sua sponte examined the original note filed with the court and determined that there was no evidence that an allonge had been affixed to the original note, and dismissed the complaint with prejudice. The First District reversed...