First Mortgage Company v. Dina

Plaintiff filed foreclosure complaint in 2010 to foreclose a property against property owner and co-signer of mortgage dated 11/2007. The Residential Mortgage License Act was applicable to the original mortgagee, but as a result of the amendment to the Act effective 7/23/15, an exception to the law-of-the-case doctrine applies. Amendment plainly states an intent to give the amendment maximal retroactive effect. A change in statutory law is an exception to the law-of-the-case doctrine. Current public policy in Illinois does not require that the original mortgagee must forfeit any lien if its wholly-owned subsidiary, into which it was merged, lacked a needed license. (HUTCHINSON and SPENCE, concurring.)