The National Law Review-

We have a good one for our lender and servicer friends out there.

In Bauer v. Roundpoint Mortg. Servicing Corp., No. 18 C 3634, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 184328 (N.D. Ill. Oct. 29, 2018), the Court held that despite a court order dismissing the mortgage foreclosure with prejudice, plaintiff’s mortgage servicer could report the plaintiff’s default to the credit reporting agencies.

The plaintiff, Bauer, defaulted on his mortgage. Then-mortgagee, JP Morgan Chase (“Chase”), filed a judicial foreclosure (“First Foreclosure”) against Bauer which was voluntarily dismissed in 2013. Chase then filed a second judicial foreclosure action (“Second Foreclosure”) against Bauer.  The Second Foreclosure was voluntarily dismissed in 2015. In March 2016, then-mortgagee, U.S. Bank, filed a third foreclosure action (“Third Foreclosure”) against Bauer.

Bauer moved to dismiss the Third Foreclosure based on Illinois’s “single filing rule.” Under the rule, after a voluntary dismissal, a plaintiff may only commence a new action on the same cause of action within one year or within the remaining period of limitation, whichever greater.   The court agreed that the rule applied and dismissed the Third Foreclosure with prejudice. In relevant part, the dismissal order (“Order”) said, “… Plaintiff’s complaint is dismissed with prejudice based on the single re-filing rule.”

[THE NATIONAL LAW REVIEW]

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