Cui v. Kubycheck

2021 IL App (2d) 200239-U
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedMay 21, 2021
Docket2-20-0239
StatusUnpublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 2021 IL App (2d) 200239-U (Cui v. Kubycheck) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cui v. Kubycheck, 2021 IL App (2d) 200239-U (Ill. Ct. App. 2021).

Opinion

2021 IL App (2d) 200239-U No. 2-20-0239 Order filed May 20, 2021

NOTICE: This order was filed under Supreme Court Rule 23(b) and may not be cited as precedent by any party except in the limited circumstances allowed under Rule 23(e)(1). ______________________________________________________________________________

IN THE

APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS

SECOND DISTRICT ______________________________________________________________________________

HANG CUI & REIYING FEI, ) Appeal from the Circuit Court ) of DuPage County. Plaintiffs-Appellants, ) ) v. ) No. 14-MR-1418 ) LYNN KUBYCHECK & JON ) KUBYCHECK, 1 ) Honorable ) Dorothy French Mallen, Defendants-Appellees. ) Judge, Presiding. ______________________________________________________________________________

JUSTICE HUTCHINSON delivered the judgment of the court. Justices Hudson and Brennan concurred with the judgment.

ORDER

¶1 Held: The trial court did not err in dismissing plaintiffs’ second amended complaint for failure to state claims of malicious prosecution, trespass, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

1 On the court’s own motion, we have changed the caption to reflect that the City

of Elmhurst is no longer a defendant; the Kubychecks are the only defendants remaining

in this case. 2021 IL App (2d) 200239-U

¶2 Hang Cui and his wife, Ruiying Fei, appeal the dismissal of their second amended

complaint against Lynn Kubycheck and her son, Jon. Cui was arrested in front of his wife and

together, they sued the Kubychecks for malicious prosecution, trespass, and other related claims.

Like the trial court, we determine that plaintiffs have pled themselves out of court.

¶3 I. BACKGROUND

¶4 We take the facts in the light most favorable to plaintiffs, provided they are well-pled

(Estate of Alford v. Shelton, 2017 IL 121199, ¶ 35), although here the operative facts are not in

dispute. In addition, we note that several police reports and items of correspondence are attached

as exhibits and incorporated into plaintiffs’ second amended complaint, which shed some light on

the parties’ underlying dispute.

¶5 Initially, plaintiffs owned a home in Elmhurst. At some point, they fell behind on the

mortgage and the bank foreclosed on the property, but the bank allowed plaintiffs to continue to

reside in the home as holdover tenants on a month-to-month basis. On February 17, 2012, however,

the bank sold the property to Lynn Kubycheck.

¶6 That same day, Lynn recorded the deed. She also notified plaintiffs by letter that the

property had been sold, and that the bank’s rights had been assigned to Lynn as the owner and

landlord. She also included a second letter, which notified plaintiffs that their lease would be

terminated in 30 days. See 735 ILCS 5/9-207(b) (West 2012). Plaintiffs, however, failed to vacate

the premises within that time and on March 22, 2012, Lynn filed an eviction case pursuant to the

Illinois Forcible Entry and Detainer Act (the Act) (735 ILCS 5/9-101 et seq. (West 2012)) seeking

possession of the property and damages in the amount of $1853—$1600 for rent and $253 in court

costs. On June 1, 2012, the parties entered into an agreed eviction order, wherein plaintiffs would

pay Lynn $1853 and the writ of restitution (the order formally granting Lynn possession) would

-2- 2021 IL App (2d) 200239-U

be stayed until June 26, 2012. The settlement permitted the judgment to be vacated if plaintiffs

paid Lynn or on Lynn’s motion.

¶7 On June 26, 2012, Cui gave the keys and a check for $1853 to his attorney. Cui asked his

attorney to “inform” Lynn to wait to enter the house until June 28, 2012, because plaintiffs’ “new

residence had a floor with poly coating that was not dry yet.” Cui was apparently worried that

Lynn would cash the check “but then refuse[ ] to sign the documents to vacate the court order[,]”

so he “decided to give [Lynn] a check with no funds yet * * *.” According to Cui, this is “a

common practice in the performance of informal financial deals, which he had previously learned

of.”

¶8 On June 27, 2012, Cui’s attorney notified Lynn’s attorney that he had the keys and the

check. That same day, Lynn and Jon entered the house and discovered that plaintiffs were still

there. Worse, Lynn and Jon discovered that “Cui had moved the refrigerator, washer, and dryer

from the house.” Lynn called the Elmhurst Police Department, and once the police arrived, Cui

“informed” them of his position that the missing appliances were his “personal belongings”

because he bought them. The police removed plaintiffs from the premises.

¶9 Lynn attempted to deposit the check on July 3 and July 20, 2012, and it was refused for

insufficient funds both times. The record is unclear on what occurred in the interim; however, on

December 14, 2012 Cui received a certified letter from Lynn demanding payment. Six days later,

when Lynn again attempted to cash the check, the account still was not funded. Ultimately, Cui’s

check never cleared and in January 2013 Lynn reported him to the police.

¶ 10 As part of his investigation, Elmhurst Police Officer Steven Mandat obtained a subpoena

for Cui’s bank records, and the bank reported that the account did not have enough money to cover

the check when it was issued. The bank provided a copy of the notice that it issued to Cui informing

-3- 2021 IL App (2d) 200239-U

him that his account was overdrawn and that the check had been returned for insufficient funds.

On March 12, 2013, Mandat took Lynn before a judge who issued an arrest warrant for Cui for the

offense of attempt deceptive practices (720 ILCS 5/8-4(a), 17-1(B)(1) (West 2012)). According to

the complaint, Cui was then arrested in front of his wife, which distressed her. On May 2, 2014,

for reasons that are not clear from the record, the State nol-prossed the misdemeanor case.

¶ 11 Plaintiffs then sued the Kubychecks, Mandat, and another arresting officer. The City of

Elmhurst indemnified the officers, and the case was removed to federal court. 28 U.S.C. § 1441(a)

(2012). There, plaintiffs alleged federal civil rights violations through malicious prosecution (42

U.S.C. § 1983) and conspiracy (42 U.S.C. § 1985), as well as violations of state law. The City of

Elmhurst settled a discrimination claim with plaintiffs against the other arresting officer, and the

district court ultimately granted the City’s motion to dismiss the remaining federal-law claims in

plaintiffs’ fourth amended federal complaint. Cui v. Elmhurst Police Department, 2017 WL

680318 (N.D. Ill., Feb. 21, 2017); 2017 WL 1344523 (N.D. Ill., Apr. 12, 2017). Relevant here,

despite multiple iterations of their federal complaint, the district court repeatedly concluded that

there was sufficient probable cause for the police to arrest Cui for passing Lynn the bad check,

which short-circuited any malicious-prosecution claim. Id. The district court also relinquished

supplemental jurisdiction over the state-law claims involving the Kubychecks. Plaintiffs appealed

and the Seventh Circuit affirmed in a short summary order. Cui v. City of Elmhurst, Illinois, 733

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