Commercial Banking, Collections, and Bankruptcy

(Harmon, D-Oak Park; Bristow, D-Alton) allows service by publication for foreclosure if the defendant resides outside of or has left the State, on due inquiry cannot be found, is concealed within the State so that process cannot be served upon him or her, or that the place of residence of the defendant cannot be ascertained. If the defendant’s residence is known, that must be alleged in the plaintiff’s affidavit seeking service by publication. Publication must be made in some newspaper published in the county in which the action is pending or, under certain circumstances, in a newspaper published in an adjoining county. Requires the clerk to send a copy by mail addressed to each defendant whose place of residence is stated in the affidavit within 10 days of the first publication of the notice. 

Passed both chambers. Effective January 1, 2020 if the Governor signs the bill into law. 

(Gabel, D-Evanston; Fine, D-Glenview) allows a civil action to be commenced within 10 years of the last act committed in furtherance of the crime for an action arising out of theft of property exceeding $100,000 in value; identity theft; aggravated identity theft; financial exploitation of an elderly person or a person with a disability; or other or any offense set forth in Article 16H or Section 17-10.6 of the Criminal Code of 2012. But if any other law provides for a longer limitation period, then the longer limitation period applies.

Passed both chambers. Effective July 1, 2019 if the Governor signs the bill. 

(Mulroe, D-Chicago; Martwick, D-Chicago) makes the following changes to post-judgment proceedings. (1) Provides that a judgment creditor is entitled to prosecute citations to discover assets (instead of supplementary proceedings) for the purposes of examining the judgment debtor or any other person. (2) Deletes language providing that it is not a prerequisite to the commencement of a supplementary proceeding that a certified copy of the judgment has been returned wholly or partly unsatisfied. (3) Provides that summons shall be returnable not less than 21 nor more than 40 days (rather than 30 days) after the date of issuance. (4) Provides that summons shall be served with one copy (rather than four copies) of the interrogatories and that a summons shall be served in the same manner as provided by the Illinois Supreme Court Rule for additional relief on a party in default.

Passed both chambers and takes effect immediately if the Governor signs it into law. 

(Guzzardi, D-Chicago; Martinez, D-Chicago) provides that a “consumer debt judgment” of $25,000 or less draws interest at the rate of 5% per annum. A consumer debt judgment may be revived by filing a petition to revive the consumer debt judgment no later than 10 years after its entry. If a judgment or consumer debt judgment becomes dormant during an enforcement proceeding against wages, the enforcement may continue to conclusion if the enforcement is done under court supervision and includes a wage-deduction order or turn-over order and is against an employer, garnishee, or other third party respondent.

Passed both chambers. If signed into law by the Governor, it will take effect on January 1, 2020 and applies to all consumer debt judgments entered into after this date.

(Didech, D-Highwood; Crowe, D-Wood River) amends the Illinois Partition Act to create a new set of procedures regulating the partition of property held in tenancy in common by one or more cotenants who are related or who acquired an interest in the property from a person related to the tenant by blood, marriage, or adoption.  The Act applies only if one or more of the following conditions exist:

(1) 20 percent or more of the interests are held by cotenants who are related; (2)  20 percent or more of the interests are held by an individual or related entity who acquired title from a relative during the relative’s life or at death; or (3) 20 percent of the cotenants are relatives.

If the Act applies, the court is required to determine the fair market value of the property and give the cotenants who do not seek a partition of the property by sale the opportunity to purchase the interest of any cotenant who seeks to partition the property by sale. If no cotenant purchases the property and the property is not susceptible to being partitioned in kind, the Act provides the method by which the property is to be sold and costs apportioned.

Passed both chambers.

(Hunter, D-Chicago; Ford, D-Chicago) gives the Department of Healthcare and Family Services more flexibility on if and how it will collect interest on IV-D cases to give appropriate relief for obligors in the right cases. The revisions to the Illinois Vehicle Code would eliminate the provision in the existing statute that does not allow the courts or HFS to work with an obligor if their license is suspended more than once for non-payment of child support. Passed both chambers. 

(Harmon, D-Oak Park; Zalewski, D-Chicago) creates a licensed activity of the “practice of voice writer reporting.” This means reporting by the use of a system of repeating words of the speaker into a closed-microphone voice-dictation silencer that is capable of digital translation into text. It could be used for grand jury proceedings, court proceedings, court-related proceedings, pretrial examinations, depositions, motions, and related proceedings of like character. Passed both chambers. 

(Mason, D-Gurnee; Bush, D-Grayslake) provides that a consumer age 65 and older has 15, rather than three, business days within which to cancel a contract if the sale is made at the consumer’s home. Limits this 15-day right of cancellation to purchases made from an uninvited solicitor. Passed both chambers.