Enforcement of a promissory note requires the plaintiff to be the person entitled to enforce it, which is a documentary question that has generated extensive litigation.
Person entitled to enforce. The holder of the instrument; a non-holder in possession with the rights of a holder; or a person entitled to enforce a lost, destroyed or stolen instrument under the statutory procedure.
Holder requires possession plus proper indorsement — to the plaintiff specifically, or in blank. An allonge must be affixed.
Transfer without indorsement passes the right to enforce but not holder status, and the transferee must prove the transaction giving rise to the transfer.
Lost note affidavits must establish that the plaintiff was entitled to enforce when the instrument was lost, that loss was not through transfer or lawful seizure, and that the instrument cannot reasonably be located. The court must ensure the obligor is adequately protected against another claim.
Mortgage follows the note in most states, so the assignment of mortgage is evidentiary rather than constitutive — though recording practice and statutes vary.
Practical file discipline. Custodial records showing the chain of possession and the indorsements, maintained from origination, prevent nearly all of this litigation.