Plaintiff purchased property, next to elementary school, which contained a fire-damaged building that was boarded up.School board member, without identifying himself as such, approached Plaintiff about a "client" wanting to buy property, but Plaintiff declined. Two years later, pursuant to order of housing court and after numerous notices of building code violations, Plaintiff demolished the building and built a new structure on property. School then filed complaint against Plaintiff alleging that as a result of demolition he introduced lead into the ground that posed hazard to students, but later voluntarily dismissed complaint. Plaintiff sued school, alleging abuse of process for unsubstantiated suit, and then amended complaint adding school board members and others, and adding claims including RICO violations and civil conspiracy. Court properly granted summary judgment for Defendants, as a matter of law, as Plaintiff cannot prove that code violations and demolition order were unwarranted and occurred only due to Defendants' wrongful conduct. Court properly denied Defendants' motion to dismiss under Citizen Participation Act, as Defendants failed to prove that Plaintiff's suit was meritless or retaliatory.(GORDON and REYES, concurring.)
Illinois Appellate Court
Civil Court
Conspiracy