Blewitt v. Urban

• Decision Date: 13 February 2020
• Docket Number: Appeal No. 3-18-0722
• Citation: Blewitt v. Urban, 2020 IL App (3d) 180722, 146 N.E.3d 848, 438 Ill.Dec. 779 (Ill. App. 2020)
• Parties: Joseph L. BLEWITT, Plaintiff-Appellant/Cross-Appellee, v. Leonard URBAN and Cecilia Urban, Defendants-Appellees/Cross-Appellants.
• Court: Appellate Court of Illinois

2020 IL App (3d) 180722

146 N.E.3d 848

438 Ill.Dec. 779

Joseph L. BLEWITT, Plaintiff-Appellant/Cross-Appellee,

v.Leonard URBAN and Cecilia Urban, Defendants-Appellees/Cross-Appellants.

Appeal No. 3-18-0722

Appellate Court of Illinois, Third District.

Opinion filed February 13, 2020

Joseph L. Blewitt, of Crete, appellant pro se.

Alan R. Bruggeman, of Bruggeman, Hurst & Associates, P.C., of Mokena, for appellees.

JUSTICE WRIGHT delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion.

¶ 1 Plaintiff, Joseph L. Blewitt, filed a third amended petition to quiet title against defendants, Leonard and Cecilia Urban. The circuit court granted summary judgment in favor of Blewitt but denied Blewitt's subsequent motions for sanctions against the Urbans. Both parties appeal.

¶ 2 I. BACKGROUND

¶ 3 This appeal requires a general understanding of several lawsuits initiated in Cook County, beginning in 1996. One of these prior lawsuits was finally resolved by an appeal to the First District.¹ The lawsuits are intertwined with the events that culminated in the present appeal from Will County case No. 15-CH-1884. Consequently, we briefly discuss, in chronological order, the events leading up to Will County case No. 15-CH-1884.

¶ 4 A. Cook County Case No. 96-L-9639

¶ 5 On August 16, 1996, Joseph L. Blewitt filed a personal injury lawsuit in Cook County case No. 96-L-9639 on behalf of the Urbans. On September 25, 2000, the lawsuit was dismissed for want of prosecution. One year later, Blewitt refiled the Urbans' lawsuit. Shortly thereafter, however, the Urbans terminated Blewitt's legal representation.

¶ 6 B. Cook County Case No. 03-L-2877

¶ 7 Two years after terminating Blewitt's legal representation, the Urbans filed a legal malpractice lawsuit, Cook County case No. 03-L-2877, against Blewitt for the legal services he provided in Cook County case No. 96-L-9639. On August 6, 2003, a default judgment was entered against Blewitt and "in favor of Leonard Urban * * * as follows * * * $238,007.61."

¶ 8 On March 29, 2004, the circuit court denied Blewitt's motion to vacate the default judgment. In its order, the circuit court stated: "The Court order of August 6, 2003 was considered by the Court at that time to adjudicate all claims, therefore the Order will be considered to include the non-injured spouse (Ms. Urban) nunc pro tunc to August 6, 2003."

¶ 9 Thereafter, Blewitt appealed the circuit court's March 29, 2004, order denying his motion to vacate the default judgment. While Blewitt's appeal was pending in the First District, the Urbans, on September 16, 2004, recorded a memorandum of judgment in the office of the Will County Recorder of Deeds. Importantly, the recorded memorandum of judgment stated that on August 6, 2003, a judgment was entered in the circuit court of Cook County, case No. 03-L-2877, in favor of Leonard and Cecilia Urban and against Joseph Blewitt in the amount of $238,007.61. The memorandum of judgment was signed by a judge and listed Blewitt's address.

¶ 10 On May 5, 2005, the First District, in Urban v. Blewitt , 356 Ill. App. 3d 1133, 321 Ill.Dec. 545, 889 N.E.2d 810 (2005) (table) (unpublished order under Illinois Supreme Court Rule 23 ), affirmed the circuit court's March 29, 2004, order denying Blewitt's motion to vacate the default judgment. However, relevant to our appeal, the First District's order stated:

"It is clear * * * the March 29, 2004, order was not a proper nunc pro tunc order. There is no indication in the record that the August 6, 2003, default judgment did not accurately reflect the court's actual ruling at that time. [The Urbans] admitted as much in their motion to voluntarily nonsuit Cecilia Urban's claim, filed after the entry of the nunc pro tunc order, in which they alleged that ‘on August 6, 2003, an order was entered in favor of Leonard Urban * * * but no order was entered as to Cecelia [sic ] Urban.’ Also, the record contains no memorandum or other document contemporaneous with the default judgment. Instead, the order appears to have been based on the trial court's memory that it ‘considered’ the default judgment to encompass the claims of both plaintiffs."

¶ 11 The First District determined the circuit court's March 29, 2004, order denying Blewitt's motion to vacate the default judgment was valid because it was unnecessary for the circuit court to act nunc pro tunc to resolve Cecilia Urban's claim against Blewitt. The First District observed:

"[T]he [circuit] court retained jurisdiction to modify the non-final default judgment to address Cecilia Urban's claim. The August 6, 2003, default judgment did not dispose of Cecilia Urban's claim and was thus subject to modification at any time. The court disposed of this remaining claim, and terminated the litigation, with its March 29, 2004, order." (Emphasis added.)

¶ 12 Further, with respect to damages owed to Cecilia Urban in the malpractice lawsuit, the First District stated:

"Absent a transcript of the relevant proceedings, we must presume that the March 29, 2004, order adding Cecilia Urban to the [default] judgment without a specified damage award was a valid, intentional, decision by the court to award her no damages, either because no evidence concerning her claim had been presented or because such evidence was presented and the court found it to be insufficient."

¶ 13 C. Will County Case No. 05-L-337

¶ 14 At some point in 2005, the Urbans enrolled the default judgment entered in Cook County case No. 03-L-2877 in Will County case No. 05-L-337. Thereafter, on February 28, 2006, the Urbans recorded a second memorandum of judgment in the office of the Will County Recorder of Deeds. This time, the memorandum of judgment stated that on August 6, 2003, judgment was entered in the circuit court of Will County, case No. 05-L-337, in favor of Leonard Urban and against Joseph Blewitt in the amount of $238,007.01. The memorandum of judgment was signed by a judge and listed an address for Blewitt.

¶ 15 D. Will County Case No. 15-CH-1884 and Subsequent Rulings in Cook County Case No. 03-L-2877

¶ 16 On September 2, 2010, the Cook County circuit court revived the default judgment entered in case No. 03-L-2877.

¶ 17 On September 3, 2015, Blewitt filed a petition to quiet title in Will County case No. 15-CH-1884, which is the subject of this appeal. On May 19, 2016, Blewitt filed a first amended petition to quiet title.

¶ 18 On September 28, 2016, the Urbans recorded a copy of the September 2, 2010, revival order in the office of the Will County Recorder of Deeds. In response, on November 16, 2016, Blewitt filed a second amended petition to quiet title in Will County case No. 15-CH-1884, which contested the validity of the September 2, 2010, revival order entered in Cook County case No. 03-L-2877.

¶ 19 On January 11, 2017, the Cook County circuit court again revived the default judgment entered in case No. 03-L-2877. The Urbans recorded a copy of this revival order in the office of the Will County Recorder of Deeds on January 27, 2017.

¶ 20 On June 14, 2017, the Cook County circuit court in case No. 03-L-2877 granted Blewitt's motion to reconsider the January 11, 2017, revival order. The circuit court vacated the January 11, 2017, revival order because "it did misapply the law" and denied the Urbans' petition to revive the default judgment. In addition, the circuit court voided the September 2, 2010, revival order due to an improper service of Blewitt. Following these rulings, Blewitt, on July 3, 2017, filed a third amended petition to quiet title in Will County case No. 15-CH-1884.

¶ 21 On October 26, 2017, Blewitt filed a motion for summary judgment in Will County case No. 15-CH-1884 on the grounds that both the Urbans' September 16, 2004, and February 28, 2006, memoranda of judgment were invalid due to a lack of strict compliance with section 12-101 of the Code of Civil Procedure (Code) ( 735 ILCS 5/12-101 (West 2016) ). Blewitt asserted the September 16, 2004, memorandum of judgment recorded by the Urbans was defective for incorrectly identifying Cecilia Urban as a recipient of the default judgment in the amount of $238,007.61 and stating the nonfinal judgment date of August 6, 2003.

¶ 22 Blewitt asserted the February 28, 2006, memorandum of judgment recorded by the Urbans was defective for stating the nonfinal judgment date of August 6, 2003, listing the amount of the default judgment as $238,007.01 instead of $238,007.61, including an incorrect judgment-entering court and case number, and lacking a signature of a judge.

¶ 23 Further, Blewitt argued summary judgment in his favor was required because the circuit court in Cook County case No. 03-L-2877 voided the September 2, 2010, revival order and vacated the January 11, 2017, revival order, rendering those recorded documents invalid under section 12-101 of the Code.

¶ 24 In Blewitt's view, the undisputed facts of record established that the documents recorded by the Urbans in the office of the Will County Recorder of Deeds were not valid and created a cloud on the title of his Will County real estate. As a result, Blewitt argued the Urbans never filed a correct memorandum of judgment for or revived the default judgment entered in Cook County case No. 03-L-2877, so as to create and maintain a lien of judgment under section 12-101.

¶ 25 On January 10, 2018, the circuit court in Will County case No. 15-CH-1884 conducted a hearing on Blewitt's motion for summary judgment and took the matter under advisement. On January 26, 2018, the circuit court entered a written order granting Blewitt's motion for summary judgment. The circuit court stated: "While the court sees little justice in today's ruling, the court is bound by the express & implicit holdings in Maniez v. Citibank , [F.S.B. ], 383 Ill. App. 3d 38, 321 Ill.Dec. 940, 890 N.E.2d 662 (2008). Further direction from the Third District Appellate Court on these issues would be welcome." The Urbans filed a motion to reconsider, which was denied on April 17, 2018.

¶ 26 E. Blewitt'...