First National Bank of Chicago v. Luecken

Submitted July 11 Opinion The plaintiff, First National Bank of Chicago, moves this court to dismiss the named defendant's appeal 1 from the decision of the trial court vacating its prior granting of the defendant's motion to open a judgment of strict foreclosure. The plaintiff argues that the trial court's ruling was proper because when the court heard the motion to open, title to the defendant's property already had vested in the plaintiff and, therefore, the court lacked jurisdiction to open the judgment. The plaintiff further claims that because the trial court properly determined that it lacked jurisdiction to open the judgment, this court could offer no practical relief on appeal and consequently, the matter is moot. We agree and dismiss the defendant's appeal. The following facts are relevant to our resolution of this issue. The defendants Peter Luecken and Roxanne Luecken 2 owned real property encumbered by several mortgages. The plaintiff, holder of one of those mortgages, brought an action to foreclose based on nonpayment. On September 25, 2000, the court rendered a judgment of strict foreclosure and set the law days for the various parties to run from January 9, 2001, through January 12, 2001, inclusive, after which, if unredeemed, title would vest in the plaintiff. The last law day, January 12, 2001, fell on a Friday.