U.S. Bank National Ass'n v. Stachewicz

2025 IL App (4th) 241504-U
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedJuly 22, 2025
Docket4-24-1504
StatusUnpublished

This text of 2025 IL App (4th) 241504-U (U.S. Bank National Ass'n v. Stachewicz) 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
U.S. Bank National Ass'n v. Stachewicz, 2025 IL App (4th) 241504-U (Ill. Ct. App. 2025).

Opinion

NOTICE 2025 IL App (4th) 241504-U This Order was filed under FILED Supreme Court Rule 23 and is NO. 4-24-1504 July 22, 2025 not precedent except in the Carla Bender limited circumstances allowed 4th District Appellate under Rule 23(e)(1). IN THE APPELLATE COURT Court, IL

OF ILLINOIS

FOURTH DISTRICT

U.S. BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, ) Appeal from the Plaintiff-Appellee, ) Circuit Court of v. ) Marshall County JOHN STACHEWICZ and NANCY STACHEWICZ, ) No. 22FC4 Defendants-Appellants. ) ) ) Honorable ) James A. Mack and ) Paul E. Bauer, ) Judges Presiding.

JUSTICE ZENOFF delivered the judgment of the court. Justices Steigmann and Lannerd concurred in the judgment.

ORDER

¶1 Held: The appellate court affirmed the trial court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of plaintiff in its foreclosure action against defendants where plaintiff possessed a note endorsed in blank and defendants contested only plaintiff’s standing. The appellate court affirmed the court’s order confirming the sale where no language was missing from the foreclosure judgment, defendants received required notices, and the foreclosure judgment complied with applicable statutory provisions.

¶2 In 2022, plaintiff, U.S. Bank National Association, filed a foreclosure complaint

against defendants, John and Nancy Stachewicz. Defendants filed a motion to dismiss for lack of

standing, which the trial court denied. Plaintiff filed a motion for summary judgment, which the

court granted. Thereafter, the court entered a judgment of foreclosure. The property was sold, and

the court entered an order approving the report of sale and distribution, confirming the sale and

evicting defendants. Defendants appeal, arguing that the court erred in granting summary judgment to plaintiff and confirming the sale of the property. For the following reasons, we affirm.

¶3 I. BACKGROUND

¶4 On April 4, 2022, plaintiff filed a complaint to foreclose mortgage against

defendants. Plaintiff alleged the following facts in the complaint. The mortgaged property is

located at 1213 Third Street in Lacon, Illinois. Plaintiff obtained a mortgage and note on the

property in July 2007 from Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. (MERS), as nominee

of Shelter Mortgage Company, LLC. Defendants failed to pay the monthly installments under the

loan and note beginning on November 1, 2013. Plaintiff is the current mortgagee “as trustee for

the RMAC Trust, Series 2016-CTT” and “the holder of the indebtedness based on the attached

Note which has already been duly endorsed and which is incorporated herein by reference.” The

mortgage and note were attached to the complaint. The note was first endorsed by Shelter

Mortgage Company, LLC, and payable to Guaranty Bank, FSB. Thereafter, Guaranty Bank FSB

assigned the note to Wells Fargo. Wells Fargo then endorsed the note in blank.

¶5 Defendants filed an answer, asserting as an affirmative defense that plaintiff lacked

standing to foreclose. Defendants also filed a motion to dismiss based on lack of standing. Plaintiff

filed a motion to strike defendants’ affirmative defense, which the trial court granted, striking the

affirmative defense with prejudice.

¶6 In March 2023, defendants filed a counterclaim, alleging deceptive practices

because “Plaintiff is not the owner of the Mortgage in its Complaint.” Defendants further asserted:

“Capacity to bring this foreclosure is not vested in the Plaintiff’s RMAC 2016-ctt trust.” Plaintiff

filed a response, asserting that it is “the mortgagee, holder of the indebtedness, and trustee of the

RMAC TRUST, SERIES 2016-CTT.” Plaintiff also denied that it “does not have capacity to bring

this foreclosure.”

-2- ¶7 In August 2023, plaintiff filed a motion for summary judgment against defendants

as to plaintiff’s complaint and defendants’ counterclaims. Approximately two weeks later,

defendants filed a motion to admit discovery and another motion to dismiss, arguing that plaintiff

lacked standing to foreclose. Attached to the motion to admit discovery were many documents,

including purported correspondence from plaintiff to defendants, purported correspondence from

Rushmore Loan Services, LLC (Rushmore), to defendants, and several articles from Internet

sources, including Yahoo and Google, about promissory notes, mortgages, and foreclosures.

Plaintiff filed a response to defendants’ motion to dismiss, asserting that it was untimely.

¶8 In September 2023, plaintiff filed a motion for judgment of foreclosure. Attached

thereto were documents establishing the following assignments of plaintiff’s mortgage: (1) in

2013, by MERS, as nominee for Shelter Mortgage Company, to Wells Fargo Bank, NA; (2) in

2016, from Wells Fargo Bank, NA, to Specialized Loan Servicing LLC; and (3) in 2017, from

Specialized Loan Servicing LLC to plaintiff. Defendants filed an “answer” to plaintiff’s motion

for summary judgment, again seeking dismissal of the action based on plaintiff’s alleged lack of

standing. Attached to defendants’ answer was an affidavit from Nancy referencing correspondence

Rushmore allegedly sent to her and John in 2023, purportedly establishing that Rushmore

possessed the note plaintiff attached to its foreclosure complaint.

¶9 On November 29, 2023, the trial court, Judge James A. Mack presiding, held a

hearing on all pending motions. Plaintiff argued that the court should (1) deny defendants’ motion

for additional discovery because the documents attached to the motion consisted of

unauthenticated and irrelevant documents and correspondence, many of which constituted

inadmissible hearsay, (2) deny defendants’ motion to dismiss as untimely and lacking merit

because plaintiff had standing to bring the foreclosure action as holder of the note, and (3) grant

-3- plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment because there were no disputed factual issues, there were

no counteraffidavits, and plaintiff possessed a “blank signed note.” Plaintiff argued that defendants

never disputed the amounts due and owing, default, or breach but only “raised vague arguments

regarding services or standing.” Defendants asserted that they received correspondence in 2017

indicating that their mortgage had been sold to Rushmore. Plaintiff objected on hearsay grounds.

Defendants responded: “These documents are not hearsay.” The court ruled that the documents

were hearsay and inadmissible.

¶ 10 In its oral pronouncements, the trial court stated: “Well, with regards to the motion

to admit the documents, it is not a proper motion, so I’m going to deny that. The motion to dismiss

is filed after an answer was filed, so it is untimely. I’m going to order that that be stricken.” The

court further ruled: “Based on the filings, the arguments that have been made here today, I am

going to grant the motion for summary judgment in favor of the Plaintiff.” The court then entered

a written order denying defendants’ motion to admit discovery, striking defendants’ motion to

dismiss, and granting plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment.

¶ 11 On December 4, 2023, the trial court, Judge Paul E. Bauer presiding, entered a

judgment of foreclosure in favor of plaintiff and against defendants. On December 26, 2023,

defendants filed motions to vacate the court’s summary judgment order and judgment of

foreclosure, again asserting that plaintiff was not the owner of the mortgage or note. Defendants

also filed affidavits alleging that they were not properly served with the “Order of Summary

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2025 IL App (4th) 241504-U, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/us-bank-national-assn-v-stachewicz-illappct-2025.