The Illinois legislature recently amended the notice of foreclosure requirements in the Illinois Mortgage Foreclosure Law to ease the penalties for failure to comply with certain notice requirements applicable only in Chicago.

For foreclosure complaints related to properties located in Chicago (“a city with a population of more than 2,000,000”), the plaintiff must send a copy of the notice of foreclosure to the appropriate alderman and file an affidavit with the court attesting that it sent the notice to the appropriate alderman. Previously, a failure to do so could result in dismissal of the foreclosure action. But a recent law, Public Act 101-399, lessened the consequences to a stay of the foreclosure action, rather than dismissal, effective August 16, 2019.

Additionally, Senate Bill 1134 passed both houses of the Illinois legislature this last spring, and this legislation would also amend the publication requirements related to the notice of foreclosure. If the governor signs this bill into law, in a foreclosure action where the defendants cannot be located or reside out of state, the foreclosure plaintiffs will be responsible for newspaper publication of the notice of foreclosure — rather than a court clerk, who will nevertheless remain responsible for sending a copy of the notice of foreclosure by mail to each defendant.

For resources related to our guidance, please see:

• Illinois Public Act 101-399, Effective August 16, 2019 (This legislation amends Section 15-1503(b) of the Illinois Mortgage Foreclosure Law to read as follows: “With respect to residential real estate, . . . if the real estate is located in a city with a population of more than 2,000,000, regardless of whether that city has complied with the publication requirement in this subsection (b), the party must, within 10 days after filing the complaint or counterclaim: (i) send by first class mail, postage prepaid, a copy of the notice of foreclosure to the alderman for the ward in which the real estate is located and (ii) file an affidavit with the court attesting to the fact that the notice was sent to the alderman for the ward in which the real estate is located. The failure to send a copy of the notice to the alderman or to file an affidavit as required shall result in a stay of the foreclosure action on a motion of a party or the court. If the foreclosure action has been stayed by an order of the court, the plaintiff or the plaintiff's representative shall send the notice by certified mail, return receipt requested, or by private carrier that provides proof of delivery, and tender the return receipt or the proof of delivery to the court. After proof of delivery is tendered to the court, the court shall lift the stay of the foreclosure action.”)

• Senate Bill 1134 (101st General Assembly) (If signed into law, this legislation would amend the Illinois Code of Civil Procedure by adding a new subsection 2-206(a-5) to read as follows: “(a-5) If, in any action brought under Part 15 of Article XV of this Code, the plaintiff, or his or her attorney, shall file, at the office of the clerk of the court in which the action is pending, an affidavit showing that the defendant resides outside of or has left this State, or on due inquiry cannot be found, or is concealed within this State so that process cannot be served upon him or her, and stating the place of residence of the defendant, if known, or that upon diligent inquiry his or her place of residence cannot be ascertained, the plaintiff, or his or her representative, shall cause publication to be made in some newspaper published in the county in which the action is pending. . . . The publication shall contain notice of the pendency of the action, the title of the court, the title of the case, showing the names of the first named plaintiff and the first named defendant, the number of the case, the names of the parties to be served by publication, and the date on or after which default may be entered against such party. It shall be the non-delegable duty of the clerk of the court, within 10 days of the first publication of the notice, to send a copy thereof by mail, addressed to each defendant whose place of residence is stated in such affidavit. The certificate of the clerk of the court that he or she has sent the copy in pursuance of this section is evidence that he or she has done so.”)

• Illinois Code of Civil Procedure, 735 ILCS 5/2-207 (“The notice required in the preceding section may be given at any time after the commencement of the action, and shall be published at least once in each week for 3 successive weeks. No default or proceeding shall be taken against any defendant not served with summons, or a copy of the complaint, and not appearing, unless the first publication be at least 30 days prior to the time when the default or other proceeding is sought to be taken.”)