Last week, the Central District Court of Illinois overturned last year's bad bankruptcy court decision in Crane vs. Gifford State Bank. The bankruptcy court had held that a mortgage instrument must state the promissory note's interest rate and maturity date on its face in order to be enforceable against a trustee in bankruptcy. The IBA filed an amicus brief last July urging the District Court to overturn the Crane decision, and the court agreed with the IBA's arguments, holding that the Conveyances Act has never required mortgages to include interest rates or maturity dates. Read the District Court opinion.