The (Ruthless?) Illinois Credit Agreements Act

The Illinois Credit Agreements Act, 815 ILCS 160/1, et seq. (the “ICAA”) and its requirement that credit agreements be in writing and signed by both creditor and debtor, recently doomed a borrower’s counterclaim in a multi-million dollar loan default case. The plaintiff in Contractors Lien Services, Inc. v. The Kedzie Project, LLC, 2015 IL App (1st) 130617-U, sued …

Illinois Credit Agreements Act and the Unclean Hands Defense – No Writing = Difficulty Defeating Breach of Guaranty Claim

American Chartered Bank v. Cameron. 2014 IL App (1st) 132231-U, an unpublished First District case, glaringly illustrates the difficulty of defeating a lender’s breach of guaranty claim when the defenses are based on the lender’s oral promises.  The case also sheds light on the nature of the borrower-lender relationship and the contours of the unclean hands …