On April 1, 2009, the Presiding Judge of the Cook County Chancery Division, Dorothy Kirie Kinnaird, signed General Administrative Order 2009-01 (“Order”). The Order takes effect immediately and will directly affect all cases filed after January 1, 2009. The Order only affects those cases filed in Cook County, Illinois and will not affect cases filed in any other County within the State of Illinois.
The main impetus of the Order is to create a case management system for all of the Judges of Cook County. The case management system will not affect future filings, but will simply add an extra court date that we must attend. The case management dates are mandatory status dates that Plaintiff’s counsel must appear before the Court and apprise the Court of the status of the case. However, since there has not been a case management system in Cook County for many years, the creation of a system requires a two month period (July and August 2009) to have all cases set on a case management court call and then an appearance in Court to apprise the Court of the status of the case.
Based upon the foregoing, the Order sets forth the following edicts:
1. There will be no motions set or heard during the months of July and August, 2009. These two months will be used to hear all of the case management hearings for all pending cases.
2. No case filed on or after January 1, 2009 will be set for hearing on a Judgment of Foreclosure or an Order Approving the Sale (hereinafter collectively referred to as “Motions”) without special leave of court. To be granted special leave of court, we must file a motion and present a “good cause” showing as to reasons we should be allowed to proceed. The only example given by the Court to this point is that the property is vacant and abandoned.
Impact of the Order
1. There will be no motions of any kind heard in Cook County for the months of July and August. Therefore, the cases will sit stagnant during those two months. Further, there is a possibility that the case management clean-up call may extend past those two months which will further delay setting motions.
2. There will be a significant drop-off in motions for all 2009 cases until after the case management clean-up call is over. Although the Court created the possibility of setting motions for “good cause,” very few properties will be found to be vacant and abandoned. We have many properties that are vacant, but to be abandoned means that the owner does not have any further interest in the property. Therefore, if the utilities are still turned on at the property and/or a “for sale” sign is in the yard, the Courts generally will not find the property to be abandoned. Further, the Courts will require an affidavit that complies with Supreme Court Rule 191, meaning that the affiant must have personal first-hand knowledge of abandonment, which will not include statement from neighbors. We foresee that the standard of “good cause” will be a difficult one to attain.
We believe the reason behind this order is to create a judicially legislated moratorium on foreclosure matters. Both the Clerk of the Court and the Judges claim to be overwhelmed by the sheer number of foreclosures and believe that the creation of the case management call will somehow alleviate these issues. At this point, we are not sure how or why the case management call will alleviate the issues or create a smoother system. It seems that it will simply add one more Court appearance to each case, which in turn will bog down the Court’s calendars even greater. However, we are bound by this Order and will need to make the best of it.
The affect of the Order is to create a five-month moratorium on Motions and Sales for the 2009 foreclosure cases. Although there may be instances in which we may proceed due to the property being abandoned, the percentage of cases that will be allowed to proceed will be small. Therefore, you should be aware that there will be a drastic decrease in Judgments and Sales for the year 2009, and a period of stagnancy to all pending foreclosures filed after January 1, 2009.
Lastly, there is no set procedure for how and when the cases filed after January 1, 2009 will return to a “regular” court call. Therefore, we cannot advise an exact date that the court will return to an open call allowing firms to set our Motions without special leave of court. We will keep you apprised of the ever-changing landscape of the foreclosure practice.
Go here to find a copy of the Order for your review.
If you have any questions on this information, please contact Mr. Michael S. Bablo, Esq.
Michael is an associate in the Real Estate Default Group of the Chicago office focused on foreclosure services for Weltman, Weinberg & Reis Co., L.P.A. He can be reached at (312) 253-0617 or via e-mail at mbablo@weltman.com.
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