Court Opinion

ID: 9711569
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 04:34:41.65073+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:23:05.998984
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE O’BRIEN, dissenting: Section 34 clearly requires a “person claiming the lien” to institute proceedings to prove his claim in court within 30 days of demand or risk forfeiture of that lien. 770 ILCS 60/34 (West 1996). Section 35 clearly mandates the release of a lien where “a claim for lien has been filed” or where “there is a failure to institute suit to enforce the same after demand.” 770 ILCS 60/35 (West 1996). There are no provisions of either section which mandate that an actual filing of a claim for lien is a prerequisite to a demand by an owner pursuant to sections 34 and 35. The majority’s holding, which requires an actual filing of a claim for lien prior to any demand by the owner, permits a contractor to maintain an ability to claim a lien on a property for two years without being required to prove his claim within that time period. Thus, an owner has no recourse other than waiting to see what the contractor will do vis-a-vis a potential claim and, thus, the title of that property would remain clouded for that period of time. Sections 34 and 35 of the Act clearly aim to avoid this situation by providing owners of property with a remedy to adjudicate a potential lien, avoid a cloud on the title of that property and dispose of that property if the owner desires. The judgment of the circuit court should be affirmed. Accordingly, I respectfully dissent.