UPDATE: On February, 7, 2017, in an unpublished decision, In re Foreclosure of Iannucci, the NC Court of Appeals upheld the trial court’s reliance on a lost note affidavit as competent evidence to support the court’s findings of fact and, in turn, the conclusion of law that the lender is the holder of a valid debt.   In the opinion, the court did not directly address the jurisdictional issues raised in question two below.  However, the superior court makes the same inquiry on appeal de novo from the clerk as the clerk does in the first instance in a power of sale foreclosure.  See In re Foreclosure of Lucks, ___ NC ___ (Dec. 21, 2016).   By finding that the superior court appropriately relied on a lost note affidavit, a similar finding would likely apply to the jurisdictional authority of the clerk to rely on a lost note affidavit.  Because the court’s decision is unpublished, it does not constitute controlling legal authority, but is some indication of how a court may decide a similar issue on appeal in the future.