HB5735eng 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HB5735 Engrossed LRB096 17949 AJO 33317 b

AN ACT concerning civil law.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Code of Civil Procedure is amended by changing Section 15-1508 as follows:

(735 ILCS 5/15-1508) (from Ch. 110, par. 15-1508)

Sec. 15-1508. Report of Sale and Confirmation of Sale.

(a) Report. The person conducting the sale shall promptly make a report to the court, which report shall include a copy of all receipts and, if any, certificate of sale.

(b) Hearing. Upon motion and notice in accordance with court rules applicable to motions generally, which motion shall not be made prior to sale, the court shall conduct a hearing to confirm the sale. Unless the court finds that (i) a notice required in accordance with subsection (c) of Section 15-1507 was not given, (ii) the terms of sale were unconscionable, (iii) the sale was conducted fraudulently or (iv) that justice was otherwise not done, the court shall then enter an order confirming the sale. The confirmation order shall include a name, address, and telephone number of the holder of the certificate of sale or deed issued pursuant to that certificate or, if no certificate or deed was issued, the purchaser, whom a municipality or county may contact with concerns about the real estate. The confirmation order may also:

(1) approve the mortgagee's fees and costs arising between the entry of the judgment of foreclosure and the confirmation hearing, those costs and fees to be allowable to the same extent as provided in the note and mortgage and in Section 15-1504;

(2) provide for a personal judgment against any party for a deficiency; and

(3) determine the priority of the judgments of parties who deferred proving the priority pursuant to subsection (h) of Section 15-1506, but the court shall not defer confirming the sale pending the determination of such priority.

(b-5) Notice with respect to residential real estate. With respect to residential real estate, the notice required under subsection (b) of this Section shall be sent to the mortgagor even if the mortgagor has previously been held in default. In the event the mortgagor has filed an appearance, the notice shall be sent to the address indicated on the appearance. In all other cases, the notice shall be sent to the mortgagor at the common address of the foreclosed property. The notice shall be sent by first class mail. Unless the right to possession has been previously terminated by the court, the notice shall include the following language in 12-point boldface capitalized type:

IF YOU ARE THE MORTGAGOR (HOMEOWNER), YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO

REMAIN IN POSSESSION FOR 30 DAYS AFTER ENTRY OF AN ORDER OF

POSSESSION, IN ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION 15-1701(c) OF THE

ILLINOIS MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE LAW.

(b-10) Notice of confirmation order sent to municipality or county. A copy of the confirmation order required under subsection (b) shall be sent to the municipality in which the foreclosed property is located, or to the county within the boundary of which the foreclosed property is located if the foreclosed property is located in an unincorporated territory. A municipality or county must clearly publish on its website a single address to which such notice shall be sent. If a municipality or county does not maintain a website, then the municipality or county must publicly post in its main office a single address to which such notice shall be sent. In the event that a municipality or county has not complied with the publication requirement in this subsection (b-10), then such notice to the municipality or county shall be provided pursuant to Section 2-211 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

(c) Failure to Give Notice. If any sale is held without compliance with subsection (c) of Section 15-1507 of this Article, any party entitled to the notice provided for in paragraph (3) of that subsection (c) who was not so notified may, by motion supported by affidavit made prior to confirmation of such sale, ask the court which entered the judgment to set aside the sale. Any such party shall guarantee or secure by bond a bid equal to the successful bid at the prior sale, unless the party seeking to set aside the sale is the mortgagor, the real estate sold at the sale is residential real estate, and the mortgagor occupies the residential real estate at the time the motion is filed. In that event, no guarantee or bond shall be required of the mortgagor. Any subsequent sale is subject to the same notice requirement as the original sale.

(d) Validity of Sale. Except as provided in subsection (c) of Section 15-1508, no sale under this Article shall be held invalid or be set aside because of any defect in the notice thereof or in the publication of the same, or in the proceedings of the officer conducting the sale, except upon good cause shown in a hearing pursuant to subsection (b) of Section 15-1508. At any time after a sale has occurred, any party entitled to notice under paragraph (3) of subsection (c) of Section 15-1507 may recover from the mortgagee any damages caused by the mortgagee's failure to comply with such paragraph (3). Any party who recovers damages in a judicial proceeding brought under this subsection may also recover from the mortgagee the reasonable expenses of litigation, including reasonable attorney's fees.

(d-5) Making Home Affordable Program. The court that entered the judgment shall set aside a sale held pursuant to Section 15-1507, upon motion of the mortgagor at any time prior to the confirmation of the sale, if the mortgagor proves by a preponderance of the evidence that (i) the mortgagor has applied for assistance under the Making Home Affordable Program established by the United States Department of the Treasury pursuant to the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, as amended by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, and (ii) the mortgaged real estate was sold in material violation of the program's requirements for proceeding to a judicial sale. The provisions of this subsection (d-5), except for this sentence, shall become inoperative on January 1, 2013 for all actions filed under this Article after December 31, 2012, in which the mortgagor did not apply for assistance under the Making Home Affordable Program on or before December 31, 2012.

(e) Deficiency Judgment. In any order confirming a sale pursuant to the judgment of foreclosure, the court shall also enter a personal judgment for deficiency against any party (i) if otherwise authorized and (ii) to the extent requested in the complaint and proven upon presentation of the report of sale in accordance with Section 15-1508. Except as otherwise provided in this Article, a judgment may be entered for any balance of money that may be found due to the plaintiff, over and above the proceeds of the sale or sales, and enforcement may be had for the collection of such balance, the same as when the judgment is solely for the payment of money. Such judgment may be entered, or enforcement had, only in cases where personal service has been had upon the persons personally liable for the mortgage indebtedness, unless they have entered their appearance in the foreclosure action.

(f) Satisfaction. Upon confirmation of the sale, the judgment stands satisfied to the extent of the sale price less expenses and costs. If the order confirming the sale includes a deficiency judgment, the judgment shall become a lien in the manner of any other judgment for the payment of money.

(g) The order confirming the sale shall include, notwithstanding any previous orders awarding possession during the pendency of the foreclosure, an award to the purchaser of possession of the mortgaged real estate, as of the date 30 days after the entry of the order, against the parties to the foreclosure whose interests have been terminated.

An order of possession authorizing the removal of a person from possession of the mortgaged real estate shall be entered and enforced only against those persons personally named as individuals in the complaint or the petition under subsection (h) of Section 15-1701 and in the order of possession and shall not be entered and enforced against any person who is only generically described as an unknown owner or nonrecord claimant or by another generic designation in the complaint.

Notwithstanding the preceding paragraph, the failure to personally name, include, or seek an award of possession of the mortgaged real estate against a person in the confirmation order shall not abrogate any right that the purchaser may have to possession of the mortgaged real estate and to maintain a proceeding against that person for possession under Article 9 of this Code or subsection (h) of Section 15-1701; and possession against a person who (1) has not been personally named as a party to the foreclosure and (2) has not been provided an opportunity to be heard in the foreclosure proceeding may be sought only by maintaining a proceeding under Article 9 of this Code or subsection (h) of Section 15-1701.

(Source: P.A. 95-826, eff. 8-14-08; 96-265, eff. 8-11-09; 96-856, eff. 3-1-10.)

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.