Alward v. Jacob Holding of Ontario L.L.C.

2019 IL App (5th) 180332
Appellate Court of Illinois·Decided September 13, 2019·No. 5-18-0332·Unpublished·Cited by 6 cases

Opinion

2019 IL App (5th) 180332

NOTICE

Decision filed 09/13/19. The text of this decision may be NO. 5-18-0332 changed or corrected prior to the filing of a Petition for Rehearing or the disposition of IN THE

the same.

APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS

FIFTH DISTRICT

PHILLIP D. ALWARD, ) Appeal from the ) Circuit Court of

Plaintiff-Appellant, ) Christian County.

)

v. ) No. 16-CH-25 )

JACOB HOLDING OF ONTARIO L.L.C., ) GRANT P. ALWARD, and CARRIE M. ) ALWARD, )

)

Defendants )

) Honorable

(Jacob Holding of Ontario L.L.C., Defendant- ) J. Marc Kelly, Appellee). ) Judge, presiding.

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

Justices Chapman and Cates concurred in the judgment and opinion.

OPINION

¶1 Plaintiff, Phillip D. Alward, brought an action to quiet title to property located in Christian County, Illinois. Plaintiff had previously executed a quitclaim deed purporting to convey title to his son, Grant Alward, and daughter-in-law, Carrie Alward (the Alwards). 1 The agreement stated that the Alwards were responsible for the principal balance on the loan. Although the original loan was secured by a recorded mortgage through Chase Bank, the Alwards subsequently entered into

1 The Alwards did not file an answer or other responsive pleading to the quiet title complaint. On that basis, the circuit court entered a default order in favor of plaintiff on October 6, 2017, and against the Alwards. The Alwards did not file an appeal, and they are not parties to this appeal.

a loan agreement secured by a recorded mortgage with the appellee, Jacob Holding of Ontario L.L.C. (Jacob Holding).

¶2 Plaintiff later averred that he had mistakenly forgotten that the property was held in an Illinois land trust. Thus, plaintiff did not have legal authority to convey title to the Alwards when he executed the quitclaim deed in his individual capacity. Consequently, plaintiff asserted that the quitclaim deed was invalid and the title transfer was ineffective because Chicago Title and Land Trust Company (Chicago Title), as successor trustee, had sole authority to convey title. Plaintiff, claiming superior title, dissolved the land trust and asserted that the quitclaim deed and the subsequent mortgage constituted a cloud on title. Plaintiff and Jacob Holding filed cross-motions for summary judgment. The circuit court granted Jacob Holding’s motion for summary judgment and denied plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment. This appeal followed.

¶3 I. Background

¶4 Plaintiff was the sole surviving beneficiary of an Illinois land trust, recorded in 1996, for property located in Christian County, Illinois. The following language gave plaintiff, as beneficiary, the power to direct the trustee to convey title:

“(b) The interest of any person or beneficiary hereunder shall consist solely of the power of direction over the title to said property and the right to receive the proceeds from rentals, mortgages, sales or other dispositions of said property or rights therein.

***

(g) The beneficiary or beneficiaries hereunder shall have the full management and control of said property and of the selling, renting, and handling thereof, including collection of rent and proceeds of sale, and the payment of taxes, assessments, insurance and other expenses in connection therewith.”

¶5 On March 5, 2012, plaintiff executed a quitclaim deed purporting to convey title to the Alwards in exchange for paying the principal balance of the loan to Chase Bank. The quitclaim deed included the following language:

“Grantor does hereby grant, bargain and sell all of the Grantor’s rights, title, and Interest in and to the above described property and premises to the Grantee(s); and to the Grantee(s) heirs and assigns forever, so that neither Grantor(s) nor Grantor’s heirs, legal representatives or assigns shall have, claim or demand any right or title to the property, premises, or appurtenances, or any part thereof.”

The quitclaim deed provided the parcel number, address, and legal description of the property, but it did not designate plaintiff as a beneficiary or specify that the property was held in a land trust. Although plaintiff intended to transfer ownership to the Alwards, which he believed took place when he executed the quitclaim deed, he acknowledged that he overlooked that the property was held in a land trust.

¶6 On April 12, 2012, the Alwards recorded the quitclaim deed, even though the last recorded deed indicated that the property had been in a land trust since 1996.

¶7 From May 26, 2015, to June 1, 2015, plaintiff’s legal counsel corresponded via e-mail with Macon County Title, the real estate closing agent; Chase Bank, the mortgagor; and Chicago Title, the successor trustee of the land trust. Plaintiff’s legal counsel summarized the following issues via e-mail:

“[Plaintiff] intended to convey a residence to his son Grant in April 2012 with the understanding that Grant would take over the mortgage loan. However, [plaintiff] forgot that title was in a land trust ([Chicago Title] is now Trustee). Grant has recently signed a

contract to sell the residence to an unrelated third party with a closing scheduled for June 10, 2015. [Chase Bank’s] loan will be repaid in full from closing proceeds.”

The sale of the property from the Alwards to the third-party purchaser did not materialize. The record supports that the Alwards were unaware of the existence of the land trust in 2012. However, the record is unclear whether the Alwards had knowledge of the land trust in June 2015.

¶8 In September 2015, the Alwards entered into a loan agreement, secured by a mortgage held by Jacob Holding, without plaintiff’s knowledge. While the record is unclear whether the Alwards had knowledge of the land trust at that time, it is undisputed that, prior to entering into the agreement, the Alwards did not secure a trustee’s deed or inform Jacob Holding of the land trust. Shortly thereafter, Jacob Holding recorded the mortgage with the Christian County Recorder of Deeds.

¶9 On May 27, 2016, plaintiff directed the trustee of the land trust to dissolve the trust by executing a deed to plaintiff. The deed was recorded on June 2, 2016. On June 9, 2016, plaintiff filed a quiet title complaint alleging that he held superior, fee simple title to the property. Plaintiff asserted that the 2012 quitclaim deed was ineffective to convey any interest to the Alwards because the property was held in a land trust at the time the deed was executed. Plaintiff further asserted that the recorded mortgage by Jacob Holding was “ineffective to pledge the Property as security for any loan because *** [the Alwards] had no ownership interest in the Property.” Plaintiff requested the circuit court to declare the quitclaim deed and mortgage invalid and remove the cloud on title from public record.

¶ 10 On February 22, 2017, plaintiff filed a motion for summary judgment alleging that no genuine issue of material fact existed with respect to the complaint to quiet title. Jacob Holding subsequently filed a response to plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment and a cross-motion for

summary judgment. Jacob Holding asserted that Illinois case law permitted a beneficiary to convey property rights even if the property was held in a land trust; thus, the quitclaim deed assigned plaintiff’s beneficiary interests to the Alwards. Alternatively, Jacob Holding asserted that it was protected from adverse claims as a “bona fide purchaser for value” because it had no notice of defect in the title.

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