Ryder v. Bank of Hickory Hills

612 N.E.2d 19, 242 Ill. App. 3d 1042, 183 Ill. Dec. 762, 1993 Ill. App. LEXIS 175
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedFebruary 16, 1993
Docket1-88-0923
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 612 N.E.2d 19 (Ryder v. Bank of Hickory Hills) 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
Ryder v. Bank of Hickory Hills, 612 N.E.2d 19, 242 Ill. App. 3d 1042, 183 Ill. Dec. 762, 1993 Ill. App. LEXIS 175 (Ill. Ct. App. 1993).

Opinion

JUSTICE BUCKLEY

delivered the opinion of the court:

Plaintiffs, Andrew Ryder and his wife, Rose Marie Ryder, and Eugene Ryder and his wife, Diane Ryder, brought an action for rescission of a deed conveying title to land to defendants James and Frank Hannigan. Plaintiffs’ complaint included counts against defendant Bank of Hickory Hills (Bank) in connection with the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) sale of the collateral for a commercial loan. Plaintiffs sought an accounting for the surplus between the balance due on the collateral note and the sum paid at the UCC sale for the collateral. Additionally, plaintiffs sought a judgment against the Bank for its failure to comply with the UCC sale requirements. Following a bench trial, the circuit court found in favor of defendants. Plaintiffs appealed from that judgment. The appellate court found that the circuit court erred in refusing to find that the Bank waived its right to accelerate the loans and, accordingly, reversed and remanded the cause. The Bank appealed that decision. The supreme court reversed the appellate court and remanded the cause back to the appellate court in order to address the remaining issues which were briefed in the initial appeal.

In June 1980, Eugene Ryder obtained a commercial loan in the amount of $21,809.51 for his business, E.A. Ryder’s Carpet Fashions, Inc. In order to obtain the loan, Eugene and his wife, Diane, along with Eugene’s parents, Andrew and Rose Ryder, signed a note dated June 18, 1980, requiring payments totalling $36,409.20 (Commercial Note) and also signed a security agreement to secure the commercial loan. Pursuant to the security agreement, Eugene and Diane assigned their preexisting beneficial interest in their condominium residence at 9830 South Sayer, Chicago Ridge, Illinois, under land trust number 1794, which was secured by the condominium and subject to a mortgage. In addition, Andrew and Rose assigned their preexisting beneficial interest in their residence located at 3744 West 105th Street, Chicago, Illinois, under land trust number 671, which was secured by the residence.

With respect to the above collateral, the Commercial Note contained a “cross collateralization” clause, which provided that the “Bank’s security interest secures all other existing and future indebtedness and obligations of debtor to Bank.” At the time of execution of the security agreement, Eugene Ryder had two other loans at the Bank: a note dated January 20, 1979, for $30,000 (Mortgage Note) which was secured by a first mortgage on Eugene and Diane Ryder’s condominium in Chicago Ridge and an unsecured note made on November 29,1982, for $3,208.68 (Unsecured Note).

In the summer of 1981, Eugene and Diane Ryder entered into a contract for the sale of their condominium to John and Pamela Panos for $50,000. The terms of the contract provided that the Panoses pay Eugene and Diane $10,000 on execution of the contract with the balance to be paid in monthly installments of $310 with a balloon payment at the end of three years. On or about October 1, 1981, Eugene and Diane transferred possession of the condominium to the Panoses and moved to another residence. They did not notify the Bank of the above events.

Philip Sirotzke, the Bank’s loan officer assigned to Eugene Ryder’s commercial loan account, testified that the Bank learned of the condominium sale in October 1983 at a time when it had also learned that the Internal Revenue Service had issued a $17,000 tax levy against Eugene Ryder. Furthermore, Eugene Ryder, whose commercial loan was “continually past-due,” had fallen four to five months behind on the loan payments. Sirotzke testified that the above circumstances caused him to feel very insecure about the Commercial Note and the other loans. On or about October 11, 1983, the Bank sent certified letters to Eugene Ryder and Andrew and Rose Ryder demanding payment in full of the Commercial Note, the Mortgage Note and the Unsecured Note. The letters were returned to the Bank marked “unclaimed.”

In November 1983, Eugene Ryder and Sirotzke had a telephone conversation wherein Sirotzke informed Eugene that the Bank had accelerated the commercial loans and that “to prevent a foreclosure [the Panoses would] have to go out and get a loan right away.” Subsequently, Eugene Ryder accompanied the Panoses to State Equity Company to apply for a loan with the intent to use the loan proceeds to pay the Ryders’ obligations to the Bank. The Bank deferred further action. In March 1984, the Bank was advised that State Equity had disapproved the Panoses’ loan application.

On April 2, 1984, Eugene Ryder made payments to the Bank consisting of six checks totalling $3,059.10, but did not inform Sirotzke of the payments until April 13, 1984. On April 4, 1984, the Bank sent a notice of public sale of the collateral via certified mail to Eugene and Andrew Ryder. After receiving the notice, Eugene and his attorney, Tom Georgis, met with Sirotzke at the Bank on April 13, 1984, at which time they first informed him of the April 2 payments. Sirotzke agreed to continue the sale of April 19, 1984, and give Eugene Ryder an additional 30 days to “refinance or sell the condominium.” Sirotzke also stated that the Bank would consider a further extension if Eugene paid the balance of the $10,000 he received from the sale of his condominium.

On April 19, 1984, Eugene paid the Bank $1,000. On May 10, 1984, the Bank sent the Ryders notices, via certified mail, of a June 1, 1984, public sale. Eugene and Diane Ryder acknowledged receipt of the notice. The certified mailed notice to Andrew Ryder was returned “unclaimed.” A notice sent to Andrew by regular mail, however, was not returned. On May 30, 1984, Eugene telephoned Sirotzke and offered to pay $2,700 to call off the sale, but Sirotzke refused the offer. Prior to the June 1 public sale, a notice of public sale was published in the Southtown Economist three times from May 16 to May 27, as well as three times in the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin. Andrew Ryder claimed that he had no actual knowledge of the June 1 sale. At the sale, James and Frank Hannigan submitted the only bid. The Hannigans’ $39,200 bid was accepted. The Hannigans had learned of the sale through one of the newspaper advertisements.

Plaintiffs’ expert appraised the fair market value of the Andrew Ryder residence to be $84,000 and the fair market value of the condominium to be $44,500. The Ryders received no proceeds from the sale. The Ryders subsequently repurchased the Andrew Ryder residence for $43,000, at the same time they arranged a third party to purchase the condominium for $42,000.

Article 9 of the UCC applies to any transaction which is intended to create a security interest in personal property, including goods, documents, instruments, general intangibles, chattel paper or accounts. (111. Rev. Stat. 1985, ch. 26, par. 9 — 102(a).) In Illinois, a beneficial interest in a land trust is personal property classified as a general intangible. (111. Ann. Stat., ch. 26, par. 9 — 106, Illinois Code Comment, at 69 (Smith-Hurd 1974); Levine v. Pascal (1968), 94 111. App. 2d 43, 236 N.E.2d 425; Wambach v. Randall (7th Cir.

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

Related

General Motors Acceptance Corp. v. Stoval
872 N.E.2d 91 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2007)
General Motors Aceptance Corp. v. Stoval
Appellate Court of Illinois, 2007
Chisolm v. TranSouth Financial Corp.
194 F.R.D. 538 (E.D. Virginia, 2000)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
612 N.E.2d 19, 242 Ill. App. 3d 1042, 183 Ill. Dec. 762, 1993 Ill. App. LEXIS 175, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ryder-v-bank-of-hickory-hills-illappct-1993.