Le v. Simirica

2023 IL App (3d) 220406-U
Appellate Court of Illinois·Decided November 28, 2023·No. 3-22-0406·Unpublished

Opinion

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).

2023 IL App (3d) 220406-U

Order filed November 28, 2023

IN THE

APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS THIRD DISTRICT

2023

THUY ANH DIN LE, as Trustee of ) Appeal from the Circuit Court Kensington Trust, ) of the 18th Judicial Circuit, ) Du Page County, Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, )

)

v. )

)

GABI SIMIRICA; VALERIAN SIMIRICA; ) CIT SMALL BUSINESS LENDING ) CORPORATION; ASSET ACCEPTANCE, ) Appeal No. 3-22-0406 LLC; CAVALRY PORTFOLIO SERVICES, ) Circuit No. 17-CH-717 LLC as Assignee of Cavalry SPV I, LLC; ) CAPITAL ONE BANK (USA) NATIONAL ) ASSOCIATION; URBAN PARTNERSHIP ) BANK; UNKNOWN OWNERS and ) NON-RECORD CLAIMANTS, )

)

Defendants ) Honorable ) Anne Therieau Hayes, (Gabi Simirica, Defendant-Appellant 1). ) Judge, Presiding.

JUSTICE PETERSON delivered the judgment of the court. Justices McDade and Davenport concurred in the judgment.

1 Although various defendants are named below, only defendant Gabi Simirica appeals.

ORDER

¶1 Held: Plaintiff has standing and capacity to bring the foreclosure action. Entry of summary judgment was improper because there is an issue of material fact regarding compliance with a condition precedent. Plaintiff’s Rule 113 affidavit was proper. There is no material issue of fact regarding the amount of default.

¶2 Defendant, Gabi Simirica, appeals the Du Page County circuit court’s orders granting plaintiff, Thuy Anh Din Le, as trustee of Kensington Trust, summary judgment of foreclosure and approving sale. Defendant argues that the court erred by granting summary judgment because (1) plaintiff lacked standing and capacity to sue when she initiated the foreclosure, (2) plaintiff failed to comply with a condition precedent, (3) plaintiff failed to furnish a proper affidavit, and (4) a question of fact regarding the amount due and owing remained. She argues that the court erred by approving the sale because justice was not otherwise done. We reverse and remand for further proceedings.

¶3 I. BACKGROUND

¶4 Kensington Trust filed a complaint on May 10, 2017, and later an amended complaint against defendant seeking to foreclose on a mortgage. The amended complaint was amended to name Le as the plaintiff in her capacity as trustee of Kensington Trust. The complaint alleged that (1) defendant was the mortgagor, (2) MidAmerica Bank was the mortgagee, (3) the mortgage was recorded, (4) plaintiff was the holder of the indebtedness secured by the mortgage and had the right to foreclose, and (5) defendant was in default with a balance of $162,386.32, plus interest, costs and fees. The complaint also alleged that true copies of the mortgage, note, and assignments were attached thereto. The assignments and allonges to the note showed that the mortgage was assigned and the note made payable to Kensington Trust on November 12, 2015. Defendant admitted the allegation that true copies of the documents were attached. The mortgage provided that notice “shall be deemed to have been given *** when mailed by first class mail or

when actually delivered to [defendant’s] address if sent by other means.” It further provided that notice shall be given to defendant prior to acceleration following defendant’s breach and that certain information is required to be contained in the notice. In a verified amended answer, defendant included a special denial of implied allegation which stated that “[o]n information and belief, based upon non-receipt, Kensington Trust *** failed to provide *** proper notice that a failure to cure the alleged defaults might result in foreclosure.” Defendant further alleged that she was denied the good faith opportunity to avoid acceleration and foreclosure and that the failure to provide the proper acceleration notice required dismissal of the foreclosure action.

¶5 Plaintiff filed a motion for summary judgment that argued she was entitled to judgment because defendant defaulted under the note. Plaintiff attached an affidavit from Sheila White, which stated she was the vice president of Allied Servicing Corporation, the servicing agent for plaintiff, as trustee of Kensington Trust. White’s affidavit stated she was competent to testify to the matters therein based upon her personal knowledge and review of business records. White was familiar with Allied’s business and modes of operation relating to the mortgage loans that it serviced, including defendant’s. White received training on Modus, the software system used by Allied. Modus was recognized as standard in the industry for recording and tracking mortgage payments and for determining how much was due on a mortgage at any given time. Allied used Modus to automatically record and track payments. Those records were created contemporaneously with the transactions. Additionally, if a loan was transferred from a prior servicer, the prior servicer’s business records were relied upon as correct and integrated into the business record. Based on White’s review of business records, a notice of intent to accelerate had been sent to defendant by first class U.S. mail in a properly addressed envelope with postage

prepaid. The notice of intent was attached to White’s affidavit and it indicated that it was sent “1st Class/Certified Mail-Return Receipt.”

¶6 Plaintiff also filed a motion for judgment of foreclosure and sale, which attached an affidavit from Melissa Bolling setting forth the amount due on the loan. The affidavit stated that Bolling was Allied’s president and loan servicing manager. Bolling was competent to testify to the facts contained in the affidavit. Allied was plaintiff’s servicing agent for defendant’s loan. Bolling was familiar with the record systems that Allied used to create and record information related to mortgage loans that it serviced, including the process by which information was entered into the systems because Bolling used the systems on a regular basis. At the time Allied acquired the servicing rights for defendant’s loan, the loan was delinquent. Business records from the prior servicer were integrated into Allied’s systems, as was Allied’s practice. Allied maintained quality control and verification procedures in integrating such records. Bolling’s calculation of the amount due was based on a review of the records attached to her affidavit, and included an account history, loan master report, and borrower state of account. Allied used Modus to automatically record and track mortgage payments. Modus is a program that is recognized as standard in the industry. When payment is received, it is entered into Modus at or near the time of payment and Modus automatically calculates the amount due. The record is made in the regular course of Allied’s business. No payments were received for defendant’s loan since Allied began servicing the account. Bolling stated the amount due on the note, included finance charges and late fees that were capitalized on the loan balance per the terms of the note.

¶7 Defendant filed a cross-motion for summary judgment. She argued that plaintiff lacked standing because the allonge to the note conveying it to Kensington Trust was dated after the trust was executed and thus was not made part of the trust corpus by the trust agreement.

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