Tag: 2-1401

Faulty Service on Defunct LLC Spells Trouble for Judgment Creditor – IL 1st Dist.

In a case whose procedural progression spans more than a decade, the First District in John Isfan Construction v. Longwood Towers, LLC, 2016 IL App (1st) 143211 examines the litigation aftershocks flowing from a failure to properly serve a limited liability company (LLC).

The case also illustrates when a money judgment can be vacated under the “substantial justice” standard governing non-final judgments.

The tortured case chronology went like this:

2003 – plaintiff files a mechanics lien suit against LLC for unpaid construction work on an 80-unit condominium development;

2005 – LLC dissolves involuntarily;

2005 – lien suit voluntarily dismissed;

2006 – plaintiff breach of contract action filed against LLC;

2009 – default judgment entered against LLC for about $800K;

2011 – plaintiff issues citations to discover assets to LLC’s former members and files complaint against the members to hold them liable for the 2009 default judgment (on the theory that the LLC made unlawful distributions to the members);

2014 – LLC members move to vacate the 2009 judgment. Motion is denied by the trial court and LLC members appeal.

Holding: The appeals court reversed the trial court and found that the 2009 default judgment was void.

The reason: Plaintiff’s failure to properly serve the defunct LLC under Illinois law. As a result, a hefty money judgment was vacated.

Q:           Why?

A:            A defendant must be served with process for a court to exercise personal jurisdiction over him.  A judgment entered against a party who is not properly served is void.  

Section 50 of the LLC Act (805 ILCS 180/1-50) provides that service of process on an LLC defendant must be made on (a) the LLC’s registered agent or (b) the Secretary of State if the LLC doesn’t appoint a registered agent or where the LLC’s registered agent cannot be found at the LLC’s registered office or principal place of business.

In the context of a dissolved LLC, the LLC Act provides that an LLC continues post-dissolution solely for the purpose of winding up.  This is in contrast to the corporate survival statute that provides that a dissolved (non-LLC) corporation continues for five years after dissolution (This means the defunct corporation can be sued and served for up to five years after dissolution.)  805 ILCS 5/5.05.

Here, the plaintiff sued the LLC’s former registered agent over a year after the LLC dissolved.  This was improper service under the LLC Act.  By failing to serve the Secretary of State in accordance with the LLC Act, the court lacked jurisdiction over the LLC.  (¶¶ 37-40)

The Court also rejected the plaintiff’s argument that the erstwhile LLC members waived their objection to jurisdiction over the LLC by participating in post-judgment proceedings.

Since a party who submits to a court’s jurisdiction does so only prospectively, not retroactively, the party’s appearance doesn’t activate an earlier order entered in the case before the appearance was filed. (¶¶ 40-42)

Another reason the Court voided the default judgment was the “substantial justice” standard which governs whether a court will vacate a judgment under Code Section 2-1301(e). 

The reason Section 2-1301 applied instead of the harsher 2-1401 was because the judgment wasn’t final.  It wasn’t final because at the time the judgment was entered, the plaintiff had a pending claim against another party that wasn’t disposed of.  ((¶¶ 46-47)

Under Illinois law, a default judgment is a drastic remedy and Illinois courts have a long and strong policy of deciding cases on the merits instead of on procedural grounds.  In addition, when seeking to vacate a non-final default order, the movant does not have to show a meritorious defense or diligence in presenting the defense.

Applying these default order guideposts, the Court found that substantial justice considerations dictated that the default judgment be vacated.  Even though the judgment was entered some five years before the motion to vacate was filed, it wasn’t a final order. 

This meant the LLC member movants did not have to show diligence in defending the action or a meritorious defense.  All the members had to demonstrate was that it was fair and just that they have their day in court and that they should be able to defend the plaintiff’s unlawful transfers allegations. (¶¶ 49, 51)

Afterwords: This case provides a useful summary of the key rules that govern how to serve LLC’s and particularly, dissolved LLC’s.  The case’s “cautionary tales” are to (i) serve corporate defendants in accordance with statutory direction; and (ii) always request a finding of finality for default judgments where there are multiple parties or claims involved.

Had the plaintiff received a finding of finality, the LLC members’ motion to vacate would have been untimely under Section 2-1401 – which requires a motion to attack a final judgment to be brought within two years and has a heavier proof burden than a 2-1301 motion.  Still, it wouldn’t have mattered here. The plaintiff’s failure to properly serve the LLC meant the judgment was void and could have been attacked at any time.

 

Default “Orders”, Default “Judgments” And “DWPs” – Illinois Quick Hits

Jackson v. Hooker, 397 Ill.App.3d 614 (1st Dist. 2010) is dated but relevant for its interesting procedural history and nuanced discussion of appellate procedure, the difference between default orders and default (money) judgments and the appropriate time to vacate a dismissal for want of prosecution (“DWP”).

After obtaining an order of default against the defendant, the plaintiff didn’t show up for the prove-up hearing and the case was dismissed for want of prosecution (“DWP’d”). Four months later, the plaintiff moved to vacate the DWP.  The trial court denied the motion and granted the plaintiff leave to file a Section 2-1401 petition to vacate the DWP. Plaintiff did so and the court granted the motion and reinstated the default.

Plaintiff later obtained a $700,000 money judgment after a prove-up hearing. This time, the defendant moved to vacate the judgment. The trial court denied the motion for failure to comply with Section 2-1401. Defendant appealed.

Reversing the default judgment, the trial court first focused on the nature of DWPs and when and how to vacate them.  The guideposts:

– When a case is DWPd, a plaintiff has one year (or within the remaining limitations period) to file a new action under Code Section 13-217 (735 ILCS 5/13-217);

– A DWP order only becomes final and appealable when the one-year refiling period lapses.  Until that one-year time period expires, the DWP isn’t a final order and can’t be appealed;

– In addition, the one-year period doesn’t start running until after a court rules on a motion to vacate a DWP.  (For example: if a case is DWP’d on January 1, 2015, the plaintiff has through January 1, 2016 to refile the case.  If the DWP is vacated on June 1, 2015, the plaintiff has one year – through June 1, 2016 – to refile.);

– Code Section 2-1301 (735 ILCS 5/2-1301) allows a court to set aside any (non-final) default order at any time or to set aside a final judgment within 30 days of the judgment’s entry;

– After 30 days from the judgment date, the more stringent Section 2-1401 standards apply (735 ILCS 5/2-1401).  Section 2-1401 applies to judgments more than 30 days but less than 2 years old;

– A default order (an “order of default”) is simply a non-final order that prevents the defaulting party from making additional defenses but doesn’t determine any rights or remedies;

– A default judgment is the specific act that ends the litigation and finally decides the dispute;

– A default judgment has two elements: (1) a finding of the issues for the plaintiff; and (2) an assessment of damages.

(¶¶ 4-9)

Here, Since the one-year refiling period hadn’t expired when the plaintiff sought to vacate the DWP, the motion was timely.  As a result, Section 2-1401 didn’t apply and the plaintiff didn’t have to show due diligence or a meritorious defense.

The court also held that Section 2-1401 also didn’t apply to the defendant’s motion to vacate the default judgment in favor of the plaintiff. A default order entered in October 2007 but the default judgment didn’t enter until June 2008.  Since the defendant filed his motion to vacate the default judgment within 30 days of June 2008, the more relaxed standards of Section 2-1301 applied.  ¶ 9; also see (here)

Take-aways:

The case contains some good procedural reminders.  Specifically, an order of default differs qualitatively from a default judgment.  The latter assigns a dollar value to the plaintiff while a default order doesn’t award any monetary relief.

The case also stresses that a dismissal for want of prosecution isn’t a final (and therefore appealable) order until one-year elapses from (a) the date of the dismissal or (b) from the date a motion to vacate the DWP is denied.

Lastly, this case reaffirms the key differences between motions to vacate judgments before (Section 2-1301 motions) and after (Section 2-1401 motions) 30 days.

 

 

Saying “I Wasn’t Served” Not Enough to Challenge Service Return On Corp. Registered Agent – IL Law

In Charles Austin, Ltd. v. A-1 Food Services, Inc., 2014 IL App (1st) 132384, the First District affirmed the denial of a corporate defendant’s Section 2-1401 motion to vacate a judgment.

About three months after judgment, the defendant sought to vacate the judgment claiming it was never served with the lawsuit.  The trial court denied the motion leaving the judgment intact.

Q: Why?

A:  

1/ A party can serve a private corporation by leaving the complaint and summons with the registered agent or any officer or agent of the corporation found anywhere in the State. 735 ILCS 5/2-204;

2/ An affidavit of service is prima facie proof of proper service and the court will indulge every presumption in favor of finding that service was proper;

3/ To attack service, the moving party must produce evidence that casts doubt on the return of service by clear and convincing evidence;

4/ A conclusory affidavit that merely says “I was never served” isn’t sufficient to refute a return of service.  ¶ 16.

Here, the defendant’s affidavit saying he didn’t recall receiving the plaintiff’s complaint wasn’t enough to contest service on the corporation.  A defendant’s bare assertion that it doesn’t remember receiving a summons and complaint is not the kind of evidence required to impeach a facially valid service return. ¶ 19.

In Illinois, to vacate a judgment more than 30 days old,  a petitioner must show (1) the existence of a meritorious defense, (2) due diligence in presenting the defense in the underlying claim, and due diligence in filing the 2-1401 petition.

The defendant failed to show a meritorious defense.  The plaintiff alleged the predecessor corporation secretly sold its assets to the defendant – the acquiring entity – while the litigation was pending and did so to elude the debt to the plaintiff.  A well-known exception to the general rule that a successor corporation doesn’t assume the debts of a corporate predecessor is where the seller engages in a fraudulent transaction to avoid the seller’s contract obligations.

Here, the court found that the fraud exception to the rule against successor liability applied.

The court found that plaintiff sufficiently pled under Illinois fact-pleading rules that the sale of the predecessor’s assets to the defendant was fraudulent and done for the purpose of evading the plaintiff’s contract rights.  As a result, the meritorious defense argument failed.  ¶¶ 28-37.

The defendant also failed to establish due diligence in raising its defenses to the underlying breach of contract suit.  The court noted the defendant’s registered agent was served with process in October 2012, the judgment entered in January 2013, the defendant’s bank account was liened in May 2013 and it didn’t file its 2-1401 motion until June 2013.

The eight month delay in responding to the lawsuit signaled its lack of diligence in defending the suit.

Take-aways:

– To challenge service, a defendant must do more than blanketly allege that he doesn’t recall receiving a pleading;

– If a plaintiff alleges factual basis for his claim, the defendant trying to vacate a default judgment will have difficulty meeting 2-1401’s meritorious defense element.