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A Queens judge took Bank of America to task for failing to file a required affidavit in a foreclosure case, but said the bank is not alone in this regard—there is a “pattern of persistent neglect” among foreclosure plaintiffs in prosecuting their cases, the judge said. Queens Supreme Court Justice Martin Schulman denied Bank of America's motion to vacate dismissal of a foreclosure action originally filed in 2014, finding that the bank took no action in the case from 2015 until almost two years later when counsel for the bank failed to follow a court order to file an order of reference. Bank of America's counsel said that the order of reference wasn't filed because the bank had not yet provided a required affidavit of merit, but the case was dismissed for the bank's failure to comply with the order. Schulman's patience with the bank's conduct in the case appeared to run thin: He said that he has been “more than lenient” with the bank, noting that he scheduled a status conference in the case after it had been collecting dust for almost two years, and said that the waiting-on-an-affidavit excuse is one that “this court has repeatedly heard over the years from other plaintiffs in these mortgage foreclosure actions.” “It is incredulous to this court how plaintiff, Bank of America, N.A., a large national bank, was unable to produce this affidavit, which is required and submitted in every foreclosure case in this state, within the five years that it was assigned the underlying mortgage that is the subject of this action,” Schulman said. Raymond Verdi Jr. of the Law Offices of Raymond W. Verdi Jr. represents Felix Alberto, the defendant in the case. Amier Shenoda of Frenkel Lambert Weiss Weisman & Gordon is listed as counsel for the plaintiff in the case, but