East Lake Condominium Association v. Brewer

2022 IL App (1st) 201373-U
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedJune 23, 2022
Docket1-20-1373
StatusUnpublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 2022 IL App (1st) 201373-U (East Lake Condominium Association v. Brewer) 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
East Lake Condominium Association v. Brewer, 2022 IL App (1st) 201373-U (Ill. Ct. App. 2022).

Opinion

2022 IL App (1st) 201373-U Nos. 1-20-1373, 1-21-0083 (cons.) Fourth Division June 23, 2022

NOTICE: This order was filed under Supreme Court Rule 23 and is not precedent except in the limited circumstances allowed under Rule 23(e)(1).

______________________________________________________________________________

IN THE APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS FIRST DISTRICT ______________________________________________________________________________

) EAST LAKE CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION, ) ) Plaintiff-Appellee, ) Appeal from the Circuit Court ) of Cook County. v. ) ) No. 2019 M1 704695 DENISE BREWER and ALL UNKNOWN ) OCCUPANTS, ) The Honorable ) James A. Wright, Defendants ) Judge Presiding. ) (Denise Brewer, ) Defendant-Appellant). ) ) ______________________________________________________________________________

PRESIDING JUSTICE REYES delivered the judgment of the court. Justices Rochford and Martin concurred in the judgment.

ORDER

¶1 Held: The circuit court’s judgment is affirmed, where several of defendant’s claims are barred by res judicata due to a prior appeal and her remaining claims are without merit.

¶2 The instant appeal arises from an eviction lawsuit filed by plaintiff East Lake

Condominium Association (the association) against defendant Denise Brewer (defendant) after Nos. 1-20-1373, 1-21-0083 (cons.)

defendant failed to pay outstanding homeowners’ association fees for her condominium unit.

The original order granting possession of defendant’s unit contained the incorrect address, and

the association sought an order correcting the error. The circuit court corrected the address on

the face of the original order, crossing out the old address and inserting the correct address.

Based on the corrected order, defendant was evicted from her unit. Defendant filed multiple

challenges to both the original and the corrected order entered by the circuit court, all of which

were denied. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm.

¶3 BACKGROUND

¶4 Defendant is the owner of a condominium unit located at 6801 South Crandon Avenue in

Chicago. On March 22, 2019, the association filed a verified complaint against defendant,

alleging that defendant had failed to pay approximately $7600 in assessments and common

charges. The association sought a judgment against defendant in the amount of the outstanding

assessments and common charges, plus attorney fees, as well as an order granting possession

of the unit to the association.

¶5 The sheriff’s office was unable to serve defendant and, on April 5, 2019, the association

filed a motion to appoint a special process server. The special process server was appointed on

April 11, 2019, and filed an affidavit on April 15, 2019, averring that she had attempted service

on defendant four times between April 7 and April 10. The special process server subsequently

filed a second affidavit, averring that she had attempted service three additional times between

April 29 and May 2. During her attempt on April 29, the special process server was able to

gain access to the building and heard someone on the phone and walking around inside the

unit. When she knocked, the individual inside walked to the door and looked at her through

the peephole, but did not open the door. She announced that she was attempting to serve

2 Nos. 1-20-1373, 1-21-0083 (cons.)

defendant and left a business card in the door so that service could be arranged, but no one ever

contacted her. On the third attempt, on May 2, the special process server observed lights inside

the unit, but no one answered when she buzzed at the building door. The special process server

determined that “[s]ervice could not be obtained as Defendant is avoiding service.”

¶6 The association requested to serve defendant by posting, and filed an “Affidavit for Service

by Posting” signed by one of its attorneys, which provided that defendant was “concealed

within the state so that process cannot be served upon Defendant(s)” and listed her last known

place of residence as the Crandon Avenue address. On May 9, 2019, the circuit court entered

an order permitting the association to serve defendant by posting, which was effectuated on

May 14, 2019.

¶7 On June 18, 2019, the circuit court entered an ex parte in rem eviction order (the June 18

order of possession), which provided that the association was given possession of the property

located at “2801 S. Crandon, unit 1” and ordering defendant to vacate the property by August

20, 2019. The order further provided that judgment of $10,274.69 was entered against “2801

S. Crandon, unit 1.”

¶8 On July 30, 2019, the association filed a “Motion to Correct Scrivener’s Error,” claiming

that the June 18 order of possession incorrectly referenced “2801 S. Crandon” rather than

“6801 S. Crandon.”1 Consequently, the association sought leave to correct the error in the June

18 order to reflect the correct address. There is no order disposing of the association’s motion

contained in the record on appeal, but the half-sheet contains the following notation on August

1 The parties agree that 2801 South Crandon Avenue does not exist and, if it did, would be located somewhere in Lake Michigan. We take judicial notice that Crandon Avenue does not extend any further north than 67th Street. See Peters v. Riggs, 2015 IL App (4th) 140043, ¶ 49 (a court may take judicial notice of geographical facts). 3 Nos. 1-20-1373, 1-21-0083 (cons.)

15, 2019: “π’s M to Correct 6/18/19 O/P G” with the “G” circled. Both parties agree that this

notation means that the plaintiff association’s motion to correct the June 18 order of possession

was granted. Additionally, while it does not appear separately in the record on appeal, a copy

of the corrected order was attached to several filings made by the parties. The corrected order

appears to be a yellow copy of the original June 18 order of possession, with the “2801 S.

Crandon” address crossed out and “6801 S. Crandon” written in its place; the judge’s initials

appear next to the changes, but there is no indication as to the date of the changes. There is

also no separate file-stamp date on the corrected order; the only file-stamp is the original June

18 file-stamp.

¶9 On September 16, 2019, defendant filed a motion to quash, claiming that service was

improper and, therefore, the circuit court lacked jurisdiction to enter the June 18 order of

possession; defendant filed an amended motion to quash on October 24, 2019. As part of its

response to defendant’s motion to quash, the association claimed that, on August 15, 2019,

“[t]he court granted leave to correct the June 18, 2019 Eviction Order on its face, and did not

require entry of a separate, new order.” The association further claimed that a copy of the

corrected order was sent to defendant, and a copy was attached to the association’s response.

In her reply, defendant claimed that the corrected order did not appear in the court file, and

that she never received the order prior to its being attached to the association’s response.

¶ 10 On November 14, 2019, the circuit court conducted an evidentiary hearing on defendant’s

motion to quash, at which defendant, the special process server, and the attorney who

completed the affidavit for service by posting all testified and after which the circuit court

denied the motion to quash. During the hearing, defendant testified that there was no order

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Related

East Lake Condominium Assoc. v. Brewer
2023 IL App (1st) 221701-U (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2023)
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2023 IL App (1st) 220025-U (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2023)
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2023 IL App (1st) 211179-U (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2023)

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2022 IL App (1st) 201373-U, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/east-lake-condominium-association-v-brewer-illappct-2022.