The Illinois Supreme Court accepted jurisdiction and consolidated two appeals to consider the constitutionality of section 15-1504-1 of the Illinois Code of Civil Procedure (“Code”) and sections 7.30 and 7.31 of the Illinois Housing Development Act (“Act”).i Walker v. Chasteen, 2021 IL 126086 (IL June 17, 2021). The Code created a $50 add-on filing fee to be paid by foreclosure plaintiffs upon filing a foreclosure complaint while the Act created programs to be funded by the fee.ii The $50 fee was earmarked for the Foreclosure Program Prevention Fund which funded programs aimed at preventing foreclosure through counseling and education and funded grants used to maintain and improve abandoned properties
The appellants were foreclosure plaintiffs who were required to pay the $50 fee but challenged the constitutionality of the fee claiming it violated the equal protection, due process, uniformity, and ‘free access’ clauses of the Illinois Constitution of 1970.iv The plaintiffs “sought declaratory and injunctive relief and a return of all filing fees paid pursuant to section 15-1504.1.” The defendants (all Illinois circuit court clerks and the State of Illinois through the Attorney General) argued the statutes were constitutional and even if not “that the voluntary payment doctrine precluded plaintiffs’ claims because they did not pay the filing fee ‘under protest.’”
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