The Illinois foreclosure process is governed by the Illinois Mortgage Foreclosure Law, which is found within our Code of Civil Procedure. 735 ILCS 5/15-1101–15-1706.

 You may find the Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education (IICLE)’s Mortgage Foreclosure Practice book helpful, as it has a chapter devoted to commercial foreclosures in Illinois.  

Be aware that many (but not all) of the provisions in the Illinois Mortgage Foreclosure Law apply only to mortgages securing loans on “residential real estate,” which is a defined term in that law. 735 ILCS 5/15-1219. Those provisions would apply equally to a commercial-purpose loan secured by residential real estate as they would to a consumer-purpose loan secured by residential real estate. The IICLE Mortgage Foreclosure Practice chapter on commercial mortgages referenced above is helpful in identifying which provisions would apply to all mortgages (for example, the tenants’ rights issue you mentioned in our conversation yesterday, in Section 15-1703 of the law). 

You may also find some of the following, non-technical resources helpful: 

• The IBA also has produced a Foreclosure Brochure. It is intended for use by consumers, but it provides a review of most of the Illinois mortgage foreclosure requirements.
• We have also prepared an outline of the Illinois mortgage foreclosure process for internal purposes.