Gardner v. Ellison
| Decision Date | 09 June 2017 |
| Docket Number | Appeal No. 3-16-0342 |
| Parties | NANCY A. GARDNER and LESLIE M. ATWOOD, Plaintiffs/Counter-Defendants/Appellees, v. DENISE ELLISON, as Trustee of 21505 W. BASSWOOD LANE TRUST, Defendant/Counter-Plaintiff/Appellant, and 21505 W. Basswood Lane Trust, Defendant/Counter-Plaintiff. |
| Court | United States Appellate Court of Illinois |
NOTICE: This order was filed under Supreme Court Rule 23 and may not be cited as precedent by any party except in the limited circumstances allowed under Rule 23(e)(1).
Appeal from the Circuit Court of the 12th Judicial Circuit, Will County, Illinois,
Circuit No. 15-L-403
Honorable John Anderson, Judge, Presiding.
¶ 1 Held: The trial court correctly granted plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment when the undisputed facts established that the Illinois land trust was terminated by the primary beneficiary's execution of a quitclaim deed prior to her death, disposing of the only property held in the trust.
¶ 2 This lawsuit involves a 2015 action to quiet title to property purchased by plaintiffs, Nancy A. Gardner and Leslie M. Atwood, in Plainfield, Illinois. Plaintiffs claim, among other things, that they are bona fide purchasers of the property. Defendant, Denise Ellison, contends that she holds title to the property as successor trustee to the land trust. The parties filed cross-motions for summary judgment. The trial court granted plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment and denied defendant's motion for summary judgment. Defendant appeals.
¶ 4 Julia Young owned a home located at 21505 W. Basswood Lane, Plainfield, Illinois ("the property"). On July 23, 2009, Young executed a trust agreement ("the trust") deeding the property by quitclaim deed into a land trust from herself, as grantor, to herself, as the trustee of the land trust, and also naming herself as the life beneficiary of the trust. The trust designated Young's son, Keith Ellison (Keith), as primary contingent beneficiary upon Young's death. Denise Ellison (Denise) was designated as the next beneficiary in line, followed by Bruce V. Ellison (Bruce). Young recorded the deed in trust in the Will County Recorder's Office on July 23, 2009.
¶ 5 On January 5, 2012, Young executed a quitclaim deed purporting to transfer the property out of the trust and to herself and Bruce as joint tenants. The record does not indicate that Young executed the 2012 quitclaim deed in her capacity as trustee. The Will County Recorder's Office recorded the 2012 quitclaim deed on March 20, 2012. Young resided in the residence on the property until she passed away on February 18, 2013.
¶ 6 After Young's death in 2013, Bruce and Keith listed the property for sale with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage. On February 2, 2014, Bruce and Keith, acting together, executed a real estate contract that transferred the property to plaintiffs by warranty deed in exchange for apurchase price of $171,000. Neither the listing agreement nor the real estate contract referred to the land trust. Burnet Title issued a title commitment documenting that Young originally quitclaimed the deed into the trust in 2009. The title commitment indicated that at the time of the sale in 2014, Bruce held title to the property as the surviving joint tenant based on the January 5, 2012, quitclaim deed Young executed.
¶ 7 The sale of the property closed on March 14, 2014. At the time of closing, Bruce executed both a warranty deed and a handwritten statement providing that Keith had no interest in the property. The Real Estate Settlement Procedure Act closing statement indicated that Bruce was the owner/seller of the property and that he alone would receive the proceeds from the sale. See 12 U.S.C. §§ 2601-2617. Consequently, Bruce received all of the proceeds from the sale. On March 14, 2014, plaintiffs executed a note and mortgage with the third-party defendant, Republic Mortgage Home Loans, LLC. Plaintiffs recorded the 2014 warranty deed with the Will County Recorder of Deeds on April 8, 2014.
¶ 8 After the 2014 closing, plaintiffs began occupying the property. Plaintiffs received notice from the Will County Assessor's Office that the grantor's name on the warranty deed did not match the taxpayer records. Consequently, plaintiffs filed a claim with Burnet Title and also filed the complaint in this case on December 11, 2014. Then, Keith appears to have claimed an interest in the proceeds of the 2014 sale of the property.
¶ 9 Following service of summons in this case, Keith passed away. Plaintiffs amended the complaint to name Keith's wife, Denise, as defendant based on her purported status as a successor trustee. Plaintiffs' first amended complaint, dated July 7, 2015, sought to quiet title, and requested specific performance of the 2014 real estate contract. The amended complaintclaimed the 2012 quitclaim deed executed by Young to herself and Bruce properly transferred the property out of the trust.
¶ 10 On August 10, 2015, Denise filed an answer to plaintiffs' first amended complaint, along with a counterclaim. The substance of Denise's answer and counterclaim argued the 2012 quitclaim deed was ineffective because Young did not execute the 2012 quitclaim deed in her capacity as trustee or in the name of the trust.
¶ 11 Denise's counterclaim requests that the 2014 warranty deed conveying the property from Bruce to plaintiffs be adjudged as invalid and void; that the mortgage naming plaintiff as borrowers, dated March 14, 2014, and recorded against the property in the Will County Recorder's Office on April 8, 2014, be deemed void and canceled; that the trust be granted immediate possession of the property; that plaintiffs be forcibly ejected from the property; and that Denise receive monetary damages arising out of plaintiffs' use of the property.
¶ 12 The parties filed cross-motions for summary judgment to quiet title. Plaintiffs' motion argued that they are entitled to quiet title as bona fide purchasers of the property. Further, plaintiffs' motion asserted that the 2012 quitclaim deed transferred the property out of the trust, and that Denise is estopped from claiming an interest in the title. Denise's motion asserted the 2012 quitclaim deed executed by Young in her individual capacity was ineffective and the property remains in the trust. Consequently, Denise argues that as successor trustee, she is the rightful holder of title to the property and is entitled to summary judgment in her favor.
¶ 13 On May 25, 2016, the trial court granted plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment and quieted title in favor of plaintiffs. Additionally, the trial court denied Denise's motion for summary judgment. Denise filed a timely notice of appeal on June 16, 2016.
¶ 15 On appeal, Denise claims the trial court erroneously denied her request for summary judgment in her favor on the counterclaim. Denise contends the trial court should have found the property remained part of the valid land trust at the time plaintiffs purchased the property.
¶ 16 Summary judgment is appropriate when all the pleadings, depositions, admissions, and affidavits demonstrate there is no genuine issue of material fact, and therefore, the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. 735 ILCS 5/2-1005(c) (West 2014). This court reviews orders granting summary judgment de novo. Machinery Transports of Illinois v. Morton Community Bank, 293 Ill. App. 3d 207, 209 (1997). When, as here, the "parties file cross-motions for summary judgment, they agree that only a question of law is involved and invite the court to decide the issues based on the record." Foley v. Godinez, 2016 IL App (1st) 151814, ¶ 20. We may affirm a trial court's grant of summary judgment on any basis in the record, irrespective of whether the trial court relied on that ground or whether the trial court's reasoning was correct. Allianz Insurance Co. v. Guidant Corp., 387 Ill. App. 3d 1008, 1026 (2008).
¶ 17 A quiet title action is an equitable proceeding in which a party seeks to remove a cloud on his title to the property. Gambino v. Boulevard Mortgage Corp., 398 Ill. App. 3d 21, 52 (2009). "A cloud on title is the semblance of title, either legal or equitable, appearing in some legal form but which is, in fact, unfounded or which it would be inequitable to enforce." Id. Quiet title actions rest on the strength of the title held by the party bringing the action. Smith v. Malone, 317 Ill. App. 3d 974, 979 (2000). Although the plaintiff is not required to establish a perfect title, the plaintiff must establish title superior to the defendant's title. Id.
¶ 18 The property in question involves an Illinois land trust. See 765 ILCS 405/1 (West 2014). In a conventional trust, the trustee holds the legal title and the beneficial owner holds theequitable title. On the other hand, in an Illinois land trust, legal and equitable title lies with the trustee and the beneficiary retains only a personal property interest. Paine/Wetzel Associates, Inc. v. Gitles, 174 Ill. App. 3d 389, 393 (1988). With an Illinois land trust, most of the usual attributes of real property ownership are retained by the beneficiary under the trust agreement. People v. Chicago Title & Trust Co., 75 Ill. 2d 479, 488 (1979). In fact, the trustee's role is simply to act as bare titleholder for the property and the trustee can only act upon the direction of the beneficiary. Id.
¶ 19 For purposes of this appeal, Denise's argument is twofold. Denise contends the 2009 land trust Young created was valid, but then argues the 2012 quit claim deed Young executed did not remove the property from the trust. Denise cannot prevail on appeal if we conclude the trust was invalid. Therefore, for the sake of argument, we will assume the land trust was properly formed and briefly discuss the case law supporting this assumption.
¶ 20 The general rule, stated long...
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