Akinyemi v. JP Morgan Chase Bank, NA

908 N.E.2d 163
Procedural entryThis page is a short order in Akinyemi v. JP Morgan Chase Bank, NA. Read the opinion of the Court — 391 Ill. App. 3d 334
Appellate Court of Illinois·Decided May 8, 2009·No. 1-08-2850·Published

Opinion

908 N.E.2d 163 (2009)

Christopher L. AKINYEMI, Individually and on Behalf of All Others Similarly Situated, Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
JP MORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., Defendant-Appellee.

No. 1-08-2850.

Appellate Court of Illinois, First District, Fifth Division.

May 8, 2009.

*166 Norman Rifkind, Amelia S. Newton, Heidi Vonderheide, Lasky & Rifkind, Ltd., Chicago, for Appellant.

Louis D. Bernstein, Melinda J. Morales, Much Shelist Denenberg Ament & Rubenstein, P.C., Chicago, for Appellee.

Presiding Justice FITZGERALD SMITH delivered the opinion of the court:

Plaintiff-appellant Christopher L. Akinyemi, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated (plaintiff), filed a class action complaint against defendant-appellee JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. (defendant), regarding a bonus offer upon the opening of a new account at defendant bank. Defendant filed a motion to dismiss, which the trial court granted. Plaintiff appeals, contending that the trial court erred when it granted defendant's motion because he alleged sufficient facts to sustain his pleadings. He asks that we reverse the court's order and remand the cause for further proceedings. For the following reasons, we affirm.

BACKGROUND

In late 2007, plaintiff received a coupon regarding a bonus offer relating to accounts at defendant bank. On its face, the coupon stated:

"$100 when you open a Chase Free CheckingSM account with Direct Deposit!" The front of the coupon referred the holder to the reverse side "for additional information." The back of the coupon stated, in pertinent part:

"Chase Free Checking requires a $100 minimum opening deposit of new money (money not currently held by Chase or its affiliates) to qualify for the bonus. Chase Free Checking has no monthly service fee when you have a monthly direct deposit. * * * Bonus will be automatically deposited into your account within 10 business days of account opening, but not considered part of the minimum opening deposit. * * *
Customers opening a personal checking account are eligible for this offer, excluding High School CheckingSM, Chase College CheckingSM, Chase Access CheckingSM, New Jersey Consumer Checking Account and Chase Basic Checking SM."[1]

On December 4, 2007, during the term of the coupon's offer, plaintiff opened a personal checking account known as a "Chase Workplace Checking" account (Workplace account) at one of defendant's branches. He presented the coupon and $100 of his own money as his opening deposit.[2] However, plaintiff did not set up direct deposit on this account.

*167 When, by January 18, 2008, plaintiff did not receive the $100 bonus automatically deposited into his Workplace account, he filed a suit against defendant on behalf of all consumers who received a coupon for cash deposit upon the opening of a personal checking account with defendant but did not have the bonus credited to their account. On January 29, 2008, before plaintiff served defendant with the complaint and before plaintiff filed a motion for class certification, defendant credited plaintiff's Workplace account with a $100 bonus deposit. Plaintiff filed a motion for class certification on January 31, 2008.

The class action cause proceeded, as the trial court permitted plaintiff to file an amended complaint in May 2008. Defendant then filed a motion to dismiss pursuant to section 2-619.1 of the Illinois Code of Civil Procedure (Code) (735 ILCS 5/2-619.1 (West 2006)), stating that plaintiff failed to plead that he performed all his obligations under the contract to receive the $100 bonus, that he failed to plead damages, and that his claim was moot because he actually received the bonus. On September 29, 2008, the trial court issued a written order granting defendant's motion and stating that "the Amended Class Action Complaint is dismissed in its entirety, with prejudice."

ANALYSIS

On appeal, plaintiff contends that the trial court erred in granting defendant's motion because he alleged sufficient facts for a breach of contract action in order to survive dismissal under either section 2-615 or section 2-619 of the Code. 735 ILCS 5/2-615, 2-619 (West 2006); see also 735 ILCS 5/2-619.1 (West 2006) (combining these two sections into one motion to dismiss). We disagree.

A motion to dismiss pursuant to section 2-615 attacks the legal sufficiency of the complaint by alleging defects on its face. See Bunting v. Progressive Corp., 348 Ill.App.3d 575, 580, 284 Ill.Dec. 103, 809 N.E.2d 225 (2004). Upon review of a section 2-615 motion, we examine the allegations of the complaint in the light most favorable to the plaintiff and accept as true all well-pled facts and reasonable inferences therefrom. See Bunting, 348 Ill. App.3d at 580, 284 Ill.Dec. 103, 809 N.E.2d 225. If these are not sufficient to state a cause of action upon which relief may be granted, then dismissal of the cause is appropriate. See Pecoraro v. Balkonis, 383 Ill.App.3d 1028, 1033, 322 Ill.Dec. 469, 891 N.E.2d 484 (2008). A motion to dismiss pursuant to section 2-619, meanwhile, admits the legal sufficiency of the complaint but raises defects or other matters either internal to or external from the complaint that would defeat the cause of action. See Hermitage Corp. v. Contractors Adjustment Co., 166 Ill.2d 72, 85, 209 Ill.Dec. 684, 651 N.E.2d 1132 (1995); Jenkins v. Concorde Acceptance Corp., 345 Ill.App.3d 669, 674, 280 Ill.Dec. 749, 802 N.E.2d 1270 (2003). While a trial court should not grant such a motion unless it is clear that there is no way a plaintiff may recover (see Ostendorf v. International Harvester Co., 89 Ill.2d 273, 280, 60 Ill. Dec. 456, 433 N.E.2d 253 (1982)), dismissing a cause pursuant to section 2-619 efficiently allows for the disposal of issues of law or easily proved facts early in the litigation process. See Coles-Moultrie Electric Cooperative v. City of Sullivan, 304 Ill.App.3d 153, 158, 237 Ill.Dec. 263, 709 N.E.2d 249 (1999).

We review appeals from dismissals pursuant to both sections de novo. See Morris v. Williams, 359 Ill.App.3d 383, *168 386, 296 Ill.Dec. 65, 834 N.E.2d 622 (2005); accord Bunting, 348 Ill.App.3d at 580, 284 Ill.Dec. 103, 809 N.E.2d 225; see also Cohen v. McDonald's Corp., 347 Ill.App.3d 627, 632, 283 Ill.Dec. 451, 808 N.E.2d 1 (2004) (grant of section 2-619.1 combined motion to dismiss is reviewed de novo).

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Akinyemi v. JP Morgan Chase Bank, NA, 908 N.E.2d 163 (Ill. Ct. App. 2009).

908 N.E.2d 163 (Akinyemi v. JP Morgan Chase Bank, NA) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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