Real Estate Law

Plaintiff filed mortgage foreclosure action. Court granted Plaintiff's motion for default judgment, and entered judgment of foreclosure and sale. Court then granted Defendants' motion to vacate default judgment, and Defendants filed answer that same day.  Court later granted Plaintiff's motion for summary judgment and entered judgment of foreclosure and sale. Defendants failed to obtain a stay of judgment within time for filing notice of appeal. Third-party purchaser of property at sale was not a party to the foreclosure litigation, but was a "mere purchaser of the property" and thus at time of judgment and sale it was a nonparty. Thus, appeal dismissed as moot under Rule 305(k). (McBRIDE and GORDON, concurring.)

(Modified upon denial of rehearing 1/7/19.) Court granted equitable redemption in a tax deed sale proceeding to the property's owners. Although a 1990 amendment to section 22-45 of Property Tax Code restricted equitable relief as to vacating a tax deed, in order to preserve and uphold the policy goals of tax deed merchantability and equity to taxpayers, section 22-45, as amended, does not preclude courts' equitable powers as to redemption prior to issuance of a tax deed. Court properly favored redemption and sought to give liberal construction to redemption laws.(CHAPMAN and CATES, concurring.)

Amendment to condominium declaration--that removed the requirement that parties submit disputes to mediation and then, if not settled, to arbitration--is not retroactive, but affected only future disputes. Thus, preamended version of the declaration governs cause of action which arose prior to effective date of amendment.(McBRIDE and REYES, concurring.)

After evidentiary hearing, court entered order appointing a receiver during pendency of a foreclosure action as to 40-acre horse farm. Court properly found Forest Preserve as mortgagee in possession during pendency of foreclosure proceedings.Court's finding that property was clearly agricultural in nature, and that Property was used predominantly for growing and harvesting of hay and the feeding, breeding, and management of horses, was not against manifest weight of the evidence. (McBRIDE and REYES, concurring.)

Plaqintiff sued to enforce a note and guaranty executed by Defendants in connection with purchase of a horse farm. Court entered summary judgment ot Plaintiff and entered judgment against Defendants for $8.32 million. Court denied Defendants' Section 2-1401 petition to vacate judgment. Court did not abuse its discretion in finding that Defendants failed to show due diligence in presenting their defense in the underlying suit, where Defendants had actual knowledge of the intercreditor agreement no later than 8 months prior to entry of summary judgment. (McBRIDE and REYES, concurring.)

Condominium Association (HOA) created a lien against a unit, based on owners' failure to pay assessments and late fees for several years. Defendant purchased that unit at a sheriff's sale after foreclosure but did not pay his assessments either. HOA then filed complaint for forcible entry and detainer and breach of contract. Defendant's partial payment of 1 month of postforeclosure assessments, made 17 months after confirmation of sale, did not extinguish the lien. A foreclosure purchaser must pay the postforeclosure sale assessments to confirm extinguishment of the lien, which Defendant failed to do. (HUDSON and BIRKETT, concurring.)