Nationstar Mortgage LLC v. Lewis
Key Takeaways
- 1 In residential foreclosure cases, personal jurisdiction objections must be raised within 60 days of first appearance or participation in a hearing, or they are waived even if later asserted in a section 2-1401 petition.
- 2 Petitions for relief from judgment require proper affidavits sworn under oath or certified under penalties of perjury; unsworn documents fail to satisfy statutory requirements.
- 3 Relevant for foreclosure defense attorneys and litigants seeking to challenge service of process or court jurisdiction in residential mortgage cases; demonstrates importance of timely assertion of jurisdiction defenses.
Summary
Simeon Lewis appealed the circuit court's denial of his section 2-1401 petition for relief from a foreclosure judgment entered against him on January 28, 2022. Lewis challenged the court's personal jurisdiction, arguing that court personnel failed to retain a motion appointing ProVest as special process servers in violation of General Administrative Order No. 2007-03. He filed his petition on January 17, 2025—approximately three years after the foreclosure judgment and more than four years after first appearing in the case in April 2020.
The appellate court affirmed the circuit court's denial on multiple independent grounds. First, Lewis's petition was legally insufficient because it lacked proper affidavit support; the attached 'Affidavit of Facts' was not sworn under oath or certified under penalties of perjury as required by statute. Second, the petition was untimely under section 15-1505.6(a), which imposes a 60-day deadline for filing motions to quash service of process in residential foreclosure actions. Lewis waived all jurisdiction objections by filing numerous motions and participating in the case without raising jurisdiction objections, with his submission to jurisdiction occurring as early as December 17, 2020—well before the January 2022 judgment. Third, even if timely, the petition failed on the merits because GAO No. 2007-03 is merely an administrative order presenting optional procedures, not a binding rule, and Lewis suffered no material harm from any alleged non-compliance. Finally, Lewis voluntarily submitted to the court's jurisdiction through his extensive participation in defending the case on the merits and requesting affirmative relief, which submission operated prospectively to give the court jurisdiction at the time of judgment.
This decision reinforces strict procedural requirements for challenging jurisdiction in foreclosure cases and the consequences of delay in asserting such defenses.
Key Holdings
1. Section 2-1401 petitions must be supported by affidavits sworn under oath or certified under penalties of perjury; unsworn documents do not satisfy the statutory requirement under section 2-1401(b).
2. Personal jurisdiction objections in residential foreclosure cases are waived if not asserted within 60 days of the defendant's first appearance or participation in a hearing under section 15-1505.6(a), regardless of whether raised later in a section 2-1401 petition.
3. General Administrative Order No. 2007-03 is an administrative order presenting optional procedures, not a binding rule; strict compliance is not required, and alleged non-compliance causes no material harm when service of process was otherwise proper under section 2-202.
4. A defendant voluntarily submits to court jurisdiction and waives jurisdiction objections by participating in the case on the merits, requesting affirmative relief, and defending against claims without timely objecting to jurisdiction; such submission operates prospectively to establish jurisdiction at the time of judgment.