Glaser v. Kazak

527 N.E.2d 379, 173 Ill. App. 3d 108, 122 Ill. Dec. 881, 1988 Ill. App. LEXIS 984
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedJuly 8, 1988
Docket86-0565
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 527 N.E.2d 379 (Glaser v. Kazak) 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
Glaser v. Kazak, 527 N.E.2d 379, 173 Ill. App. 3d 108, 122 Ill. Dec. 881, 1988 Ill. App. LEXIS 984 (Ill. Ct. App. 1988).

Opinion

JUSTICE PINCHAM

delivered the opinion of the court:

Plaintiff, Jeanette Glaser, filed a foreclosure complaint against the defendant, John J. Kazak, Jr. The chattel involved and owned by-defendant was a 1940 Boeing Stearman airplane, Model A75N1, which bore Federal Aviation Administration Registration No. N — 265 HC. During a windstorm the aircraft was blown from the Rochelle Airport, where it was tacked down and stored, onto plaintiff’s adjacent farmland. The defendant filed an answer and a counterclaim against the plaintiff and a third-party complaint against the third-party defendant, Air Wrecks, the company which plaintiff hired to remove, transport and store the aircraft miles away in Chicago. Following a bench trial, the trial court entered judgment for the plaintiff in the amount of $14,417.20 and ordered a sheriff’s sale of the aircraft to partially satisfy the personal judgment rendered against the defendant. The defendant appeals. We reverse.

The issues presented for review are (1) whether the trial court properly found that a storage lien was created against the defendant’s aircraft pursuant to “An Act for the better protection of any person, firm, or corporation expending labor, skill, or materials ***” (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1983, ch. 82, par. 40) (Illinois Chattel Lien Act); (2) whether the plaintiff converted defendant’s aircraft; and (3) whether the personal judgment entered against the defendant was contrary to the provisions of the Illinois Chattel Lien Act and against the manifest weight of evidence.

On April 1, 1982, a windstorm blew defendant’s 1940 Boeing Stearman biplane off the Rochelle Airport, where it was kept, onto adjacent farmland which was rented by the plaintiff.

On May 3, 1982, the defendant made two phone calls to the plaintiff’s residence. In the first phone call the defendant spoke to the plaintiff. During the second phone call defendant spoke to plaintiff’s husband. It appears from the record that plaintiff’s husband, who died September 27, 1982, gave the defendant permission to leave the aircraft on plaintiff’s farmland for an indefinite period of time.

Because of the death of her husband, plaintiff decided to cease farming. Plaintiff was required by the owner of the farmland to return the land in the same condition in which it was at the beginning of the leasehold. Therefore, according to the plaintiff on January 23, 1983, after giving notice to the Ogle County sheriff’s department, plaintiff had the aircraft removed from her leased farmland by the third-party defendant, Air Wrecks, a professional aircraft salvage and storage company located in Chicago, Illinois, which removed the aircraft on that date. About two months later in March of 1983, plaintiff filed an in rem action in the Ogle County court seeking to have the aircraft declared “lost or abandoned” property and to have the title to the aircraft awarded to her. On April 7, 1983, defendant filed a claim in the Ogle County circuit court alleging his ownership of the aircraft. On April 8, 1983, plaintiff sent the defendant a letter requesting that he claim his aircraft and pay the removal expenses involved in removing the aircraft from the farmland in Ogle County to Chicago and the storage expenses in Chicago. The defendant refused. On April 27, 1983, plaintiff sent another letter requesting the defendant claim his aircraft and pay the storage and removal expenses. The defendant did not respond to plaintiff’s April 27, 1983, letter.

On August 6, 1983, prior to the resolution of the Ogle County action, plaintiff filed a notice of storage lien against the defendant in Cook County. Subsequently, the Ogle County trial court held that the aircraft was not “lost or abandoned” but belonged to the defendant. On July 5,1984, the defendant filed a denial of the storage lien.

On July 10, 1984, the plaintiff sent a letter to the defendant again requesting that he claim his aircraft and pay the costs of the storage lien. On July 16, 1984, defendant’s counsel by letter informed the plaintiff that “Mr. Kazak has been financially in a very tight position and has not been able to come up with the funds to cover his airplane.” Following the receipt of this letter plaintiff filed the instant complaint for foreclosure. 1

On May 30, 1985, the defendant filed an answer and a counterclaim against the plaintiff praying for the trial court to enter judgment in his favor and against the plaintiff for possession of the aircraft, damages for the wrongful taking, detention of and physical damage to the aircraft in a total sum not less than $20,000; punitive damages in an amount not less than $20,000; plus reasonable attorney fees and costs. On May 30, 1985, the defendant also filed a third-party complaint against Air Wrecks praying for possession of the aircraft.

On September 23, 1985, the trial court entered the following order:* 2

“NOW THEREFORE, the Court Orders as follows:
A. Third-party defendant AIR WRECKS is dismissed, on the merits, with prejudice;
B. Jenette [sic] Glaser is awarded judgment against John J. Kazak in the amount of $14,417.20, and shall have a lien for such amount against the aircraft;
C. The aircraft is to be sold at a Sheriff’s auction within 60 days of the date of the entry of this Order. Any consideration received from said sale is to be paid to Jenette [sic] Glaser, and any amount received by Jenette [sic] Glaser from said sale shall be applied to reduce the personal judgment hereby awarded to Jenette [sic] Glaser against John J. Kazak, Jr.
D. All substantive issues in this case are hereby disposed of, and there is no just reason for delaying enforcement or appeal of this final order.”

The defendant argues that no statutory lien was acquired pursuant to the Illinois Chattel Lien Act because the storage was not requested by the owner nor was it at the request of an authorized agent of the owner. The plaintiff argues that she was an implied agent of the defendant and that a storage lien was created against the defendant’s aircraft pursuant to the Illinois Chattel Lien Act.

The Illinois Chattel Lien Act (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1983, ch. 82, par. 40) provides:

“Every person, firm or corporation who has expended labor, skill or materials upon any chattel, or has furnished storage for said chattel, at the request of its owner, reputed owner, or authorized agent of the owner, or lawful possessor thereof, shall have a lien upon such chattel beginning on the date of the commencement of such expenditure of labor, skill and materials or of such storage for the contract price for all such expenditure of labor, skill or materials, or for all such storage, or in the absence of such contract price, for the reasonable worth of such expenditure of labor, skill and materials, or of such storage, for a period of one year from and after the completion of such expenditure of labor, skill or materials, or of such *** chattel has been surrendered to the owner, or lawful possessor thereof.” (Emphasis added.) Ill. Rev. Stat. 1983, ch. 82, par. 40.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

CZ Driving Horses, Inc. v. Horse Powered Equestrian LLC
2022 IL App (3d) 190509 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2022)
Bell Leasing Brokerage v. Roger Auto Service
Appellate Court of Illinois, 2007
Bell Leasing Brokerage, LLC v. Roger Auto Service, Inc.
865 N.E.2d 558 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2007)
Janivo Holding, B v. v. Continental Bank
859 F. Supp. 316 (N.D. Illinois, 1994)
Stathis v. Geldermann, Inc.
630 N.E.2d 926 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1994)
In Re Rosin
620 N.E.2d 368 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1993)
Ruiz v. Wolf
621 N.E.2d 67 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1993)
Pavilon v. Kaferly
561 N.E.2d 1245 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1990)
Lescha Maschinenfabrik GmbH v. GSC Properties
719 F. Supp. 715 (N.D. Illinois, 1989)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
527 N.E.2d 379, 173 Ill. App. 3d 108, 122 Ill. Dec. 881, 1988 Ill. App. LEXIS 984, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/glaser-v-kazak-illappct-1988.