Personal Knowledge and Summary Judgment Affidavits

In this lawsuit against guarantors on promissory notes, the Court addressed, among other issues, the standard for adequate summary judgment affidavits.  The appellants argued that the two affidavits supporting appellee’s motion for summary judgment demonstrated that the witness lacked personal knowledge.  The majority opinion, however, found that the affidavits properly reflected the witness’ personal knowledge because the witness asserted that (1) he had personal knowledge of the matters in the affidavit; (2) his job responsibilities included “servicing and collection of indebtedness” owed by appellant; (3) he was the custodian of records familiar with appellee way of maintaining its books and records (which he had reviewed); and (4) appellee’s business records support the statements in the affidavit.

Bagwell v. Ridge at Alta Vista Investments I, LLC

The dissenting opinion pointed out that these affidavits were defective because appellee was not the original lender on the loans, and nothing in the affidavits demonstrated that he had any personal knowledge of the events occurring before the loans were acquired in January 2010.

Bagwell v. Ridge at Alta Vista Investments I, LLC (dissent)