After two years of study, the Illinois Supreme Court announced last Friday that it is adopting three new rules for foreclosure filings. Effective March 1st, the rules will impose new filing and notice requirements for all mortgage foreclosure cases. Every foreclosure complaint will need to include a copy of the mortgage note, a “prove-up” affidavit of the amount due on the loan (intended to address “robo-signing”), and a “loss mitigation” affidavit demonstrating that the lender is in compliance with all loss mitigation programs to the extent required by law (intended to address “dual-tracking” of loan modifications and the foreclosure lawsuit). The rules also will add several new notice requirements, including a default judgment notice, a foreclosure sale notice, and a special notice if surplus funds are available after a sale. A failure to send the default judgment notice will not affect the legal validity of the default judgment, but a failure to comply with the loss mitigation affidavit requirements will allow the court to stay proceedings or deny entry of the foreclosure judgment order.

Importantly, the rules will not require lenders to prove up every assignment of the note, a requirement that the Illinois Supreme Court considered last year and which the IBA strenuously argued against in its comment letter to the Supreme Court on its proposed rules.