Baccari v. DeSanti

In Baccari v. DeSanti, 70 AD2d 198, 431 N.Y.S.2d 829 (2nd Dept 1979), a prior mortgage was recorded but improperly indexed in the wrong municipality by the County Clerk (Id at 201). The property was later sold, and the second purchaser recorded the new mortgage in the clerk's office without knowledge of the first mortgage on the property (Id at 201). Subsequently, the first mortgagee sued the County Clerk's office for its misfeasance. The Court held that the County Clerk's misfeasance caused the Plaintiff's injury, because his mortgage was adversely affected by the clerk's mis-indexing (Id at 203). The facts of Baccari establish that the Plaintiff was directly injured by the County Clerk's misfiling (Id).