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Moreoever, interpreting the revival statute (735 ILCS 5/12-101), the court held that to prevent a
lapse the memorandum of the revived judgment must be recorded within 7 years of entry of the
original judgment, not 7 years of the recording of the original memorandum. It rejected an argument
that a memorandum recording has its own 7-year life. “[T]he memorandum expires with the
judgment,” the court said, adding that to hold otherwise would be contrary to the plain language and
the spirit of the recording statute and “could lead to all sorts of mischief and create confusion rather
than clarity regarding the status of titles to real estate.”

Lien Statements Only Qualifiedly Privileged, Court Says

A qualified rather than absolute privilege applies to statements made in a duly-recorded
condominium assessment lien that is not followed by a suit to foreclose, a panel of the Appellate
Court in Chicago has held.

In Kurtz v. Hubbard, 2012 IL App (1st) 111360, the condo association had filed a lien asserting
that the unit owner owed $15,593.49, and it filed suit based on that amount. After it admitted she
owed only $4,365.52 and dismissed the suit, the owner sued, claiming the lien cast her in a “false
light” and was a false lien that defendants knew would impair the marketability and value of her unit.

Noting that allegations made in the foreclosure suit were absolutely privileged, defendants argued
that similar statements made in the lien recording should receive the same
treatment, but the court disagreed. “When evaluating a claim of privilege, it is
the context, rather than the statement itself, that is important,” the court said.
“Therefore, merely because the publishing of the lien was authorized by statute
does not mandate a finding that the contents of the lien were absolutely
privileged.” Reasoning that making lien statements absolutely privileged would
erase Illinois' recognition of a cause of action for malicious recording of a lien
that clouds title to real estate, the court said lien statements should be only qualifiedly privileged,
which privilege is subject to defeat by proof of malice in making the statement.

Conveyances Act § 11 Is Permissive, 2 Courts Say

Section 11 of the Conveyances Act (765 ILCS 5/11) is permissive in stating what a properly
recorded mortgage may contain, two lower courts have held recently.

In both In re Crane, __ B.R. __, 2013 WL 772829 (C.D. Ill. 2013), and In re Klasi Properties, LLC,
2013 WL 211111 (Bankr. S.D. Ill. 2013), the courts dealt with challenges by bankruptcy trustees to
the effect of mortgages which did not include all the information which § 11 says a mortgage may
contain. Both courts rejected or distinguished Peoples National Bank v. Jones, 482 B.R. 257 (S.D. Ill.
2012), which seemed to require the information specified in § 11. Klasi, Crane and Peoples are all on
appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, where Peoples (the first briefed and
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argued of the appeals) is expected to decide the issue.

- John T. Hundley, jhundley@lotsharp.com, 618-242-0246
John\SharpThinking\#87.doc

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The Sharp Law Firm represents the appellant in Peoples.
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