Attorney Robert Hanlon Wins Quick Mortgage Foreclosure Appeal for Homeowners

Reprinted with permission from Illinois Leaks, published by Edgar County Watchdogs:

Algonquin Township Road District Attorney Rob Hanlon – Two day Appellate Court turnaround

Illinois (ECWd) –

Then  District 1 County Board candidate Andrew Gasser talks to attorney Robert Hanlon.

How many lawyers do you know have actually won a mortgage foreclosure case for the debtor/property owner?

Last fall, Robert Hanlon on behalf of his clients’ John and Alta Fern Gazdik, prevailed and obtained a summary judgment before Kane County Chief Judge, Hon. S. Bowles.

The Plaintiff, Nationstar Mortgage, unhappy with the circuit court granting the defendants’ motion for summary judgment appealed.

On Thursday, July 26, 2018. The Illinois Appellate Court, Second District heard oral argument on all matters raised in Nationstar Mortgage’s appeal.

In what may be a record turnaround by the Appellate Court, on Monday morning, (only two business days after oral arguments) the Illinois Appellate Court issued a Rule 23 opinion affirming the grant of summary judgment and the Circuit Court’s discretionary award of attorney fees to the defendants’ counsel.

Attorney Hanlon and attorneys for Nationstar Mortgage privately agreed to an additional award of attorney fees incurred during the post-judgment actions and the appeal for an undisclosed amount based on Attorney Hanlon’s standard hourly rate.

Reading the court’s ruling may be of interest to those that have tried to imply this attorney is not doing a good job for the Township Road District.

Having read numerous court filings by Hanlon and now a two business day ruling from the 2nd Appellate Court on a case he handled, it would appear the Road District is actually in pretty good hands with this attorney.

Currently, Hanlon is defending the Road District on numerous cases to include the Union 150 case, Township Clerk’s counterclaims, and our FOIA case.

I suspect he will win two out of those three.

The Road District has acknowledged the FOIA violations and steps are being taken to bring that case to a resolution.

A copy of the Appellate Court’s opinion can be viewed below or downloaded at this link.


Comments

Attorney Robert Hanlon Wins Quick Mortgage Foreclosure Appeal for Homeowners — 4 Comments

  1. But McHenry County Judges, with a few notable exceptions, are part of the crooked system that covers for the other governmental crooks here.

    There are two systems of justice, one for the county elite, and one for the rest.

    Take ‘Judge’ Chmiel a former atty for the the crooked Miller crime clan. The Judicial Inquiry Bd had to punish Chmiel for having a ‘special’ hearing for one of Miller’s goons, represented by one of Miller’s daughters.

    Another case is the judge who brought a loaded pistol to the post office, dropped it in front of PO patrons, and had the whole thing covered up.

    If you or I needed a cover up, or a custom made special “hearing” before a special judge …. we’d be told to ‘GO FISH!’

    Yup, that’s McHenry County …. ‘special’ justice for some!

    “On June 16, 2007, McHenry County Circuit Judge Michael J. Chmiel received a telephone call from a local Republican committeeman and political ally. The official’s brother had been arrested on a felony charge of obstructing justice.

    The defendant’s brother as well as his niece, who is an attorney and former prosecutor, wanted Chmiel to hold an emergency bond hearing so that the defendant could avoid spending the next day, Father’s Day, in jail.

    Chmiel handled juvenile cases and had never held an emergency bond hearing. He nonetheless convened an emergency hearing that afternoon, and, with the approval of the state’s attorney office, granted the suspect’s release on $10,000 bond.

    Word of the hearing spread among other attorneys and judges, and within days the supervising judge called in Chmiel to ask about it. The judges in the circuit held a special meeting, one supervising judge forwarded her concerns to the Judicial Inquiry Board, and by early July the local newspaper had written of the hearing and raised questions of special treatment, records show.

    On February 25, 2008, the board charged Chmiel with three violations of the Judicial Code. Not only had Chmiel acted improperly by having ex parte conversations – discussions about a pending case without both parties being present – but he misled the board about his conversations, according to the board’s complaint.

    The Illinois Courts Commission voted on November 19, 2010, to reprimand Chmiel. That was the most lenient form of discipline the commission could impose. The commission ruled that the inquiry board had proven that Chmiel’s acts had created the appearance of impropriety – that he took an action on behalf of a politically connected person he would not have taken for others –- but that the board failed to prove that Chmiel had committed any actual impropriety.

    After all, the commission said, it was not improper for Chmiel to hold the hearing, nor for him to have ex parte conversations about the scheduling, as opposed to the substance, of the case. The bail was set appropriately by Chmiel, with the agreement of the prosecutors, the commission said.

    Punishment often slow, seldom harsh

    Chmiel’s case is one of several involving complaints by the Judicial Inquiry Board based on its complaint that a judge had taken action in a case to help a family or friend, including ex parte discussions – private meetings that, new judges are taught, can be a serious act of misconduct.”

    https://www.injusticewatch.org/projects/2015/illinois-court-commission-judge-punishment/

  2. Five years and an appeal to win a mortgage case with a broken chain of assignment
    doesn’t, at first, sound like much of a recommendation.

    However, I see there was a similar Kane County case that took a similar length of time to reach a similar conclusion last week.

    Sounds like a failure of either the Legislature or the State Supreme Court.

    Probably both.

  3. The opportunity to express your displeasure of a judicial record will be presented on the November General Election ballot when it is presumed Judge Michael Chmiel will run for “retention.”

    There is not an opponent; the question will be – do you want Jdge C to keep his seat as a McHenry County Judge, OR, be removed?

    If the majority of those voting on this particular position say No, then you have exercised your right to remove him from office. Simple, make the effort and rally your supporters and vote NO.

  4. Pete Gonnigan: The only successful defendant in a mortgage foreclosure case before the appellate court was the case referenced in the article from Kane County.

    Snakes: Judge Chmiel was not involved either.

    This case was handled out of Kane county.

    I get that comments go off on tangents, but it looks like Illinois Leaks is pointing out that a defendant got a tremendous result in this instance.

    Reading the opinion it’s clear the plaintiff got out lawyered.

    So before you comment please read the material!

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