Illinois Compiled Statutes
735 ILCS 5/12-101 (2026)
Lien of judgment
✓ current as of May 2026
Find cases:
SyfertCases citing this section
IL-ILGAilga.gov
JustiaChapter on Justia
CornellLII Search
CasesGoogle Scholar
(735 ILCS 5/12-101)
(from Ch. 110, par. 12-101)
Sec. 12-101. Lien of judgment. With respect to the creation of liens on
real estate by judgments, all real estate in the State of Illinois is divided
into 2 classes.
The first class consists of all real property, the title to which is
registered under "An Act concerning land titles", approved May 1, 1897,
as amended.
The second class consists of all real property not registered under "An
Act concerning land titles".
As to real estate in class one, a judgment is a lien on the
real estate of the person against whom it is entered for the same
period as in class two, when Section 85 of "An Act concerning land
titles", has been complied with.
As to real estate included within class two, a judgment is a lien on the real
estate of the person against whom it is
entered in any county in this State, including the county in which it is
entered, only from the time a transcript, certified copy or memorandum of
the judgment is filed in the office of the recorder in the county in which
the real estate is located.
The lien may be foreclosed by an action brought in the name of the judgment
creditor or its assignee of record under Article XV in the same manner as a
mortgage of real property, except that the redemption period shall be 6 months
from the date of sale and the real estate homestead exemption under Section
12-901 shall apply.
A judgment resulting from the entry of an order requiring child support
payments shall be a lien upon the real estate of the person obligated to make
the child support payments, but shall not be enforceable in any county of this
State until a transcript, certified copy, or memorandum of the
lien is filed in the office of the recorder in the county in which the real
estate is located.
Any lien hereunder arising out of an order
for support shall be a lien only as to and from the time that an
installment or payment is due under the terms of the order. Further, the
order for support shall not be a lien on real estate to the extent of
payments made as evidenced by the records of the Clerk of the Circuit Court
or State agency receiving payments pursuant to the order. In the event
payments made pursuant to that order are not paid to the Clerk of the
Circuit Court or a State agency, then each lien imposed by this Section
may be released in the following manner:
(a) A Notice of Filing and an affidavit stating that | all installments of child support required to be paid pursuant to the order under which the lien or liens were imposed have been paid shall be filed with the office of recorder in each county in which each such lien appears of record, together with proof of service of such notice and affidavit upon the recipient of such payments. |
(b) Service of such affidavit shall be by any means | authorized under Sections 2-203 and 2-208 of the Code of Civil Procedure or under Supreme Court Rules 11 or 105(b). |
(c) The Notice of Filing shall set forth the name and | address of the judgment debtor and the judgment creditor, the court file number of the order giving rise to the judgment and, in capital letters, the following statement: |
YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED THAT ON (insert date) THE | ATTACHED AFFIDAVIT WAS FILED IN THE OFFICE OF THE RECORDER OF .... COUNTY, ILLINOIS, WHOSE ADDRESS IS ........, ILLINOIS. IF, WITHIN 28 DAYS OF THE DATE OF THIS NOTICE, YOU FAIL TO FILE AN AFFIDAVIT OBJECTING TO THE RELEASE OF THE STATED JUDGMENT LIEN OR LIENS, IN THE ABOVE OFFICE, SUCH JUDGMENT LIEN WILL BE DEEMED TO BE RELEASED AND NO LONGER SUBJECT TO FORECLOSURE. THIS RELEASE OF LIEN WILL NOT ACT AS A SATISFACTION OF SUCH JUDGMENT. |
(d) If no affidavit objecting to the release of the | lien or liens is filed within 28 days of the Notice described in paragraph (c) of this Section such lien or liens shall be deemed to be released and no longer subject to foreclosure. |
A judgment is not a lien on real estate for longer than 7 years from the
time it is entered or revived, unless the judgment is revived within 7 years
after its entry or last revival and a new memorandum of judgment is recorded prior to the judgment and its recorded memorandum of judgment becoming dormant.
When a judgment is revived it is a lien on the real estate of
the person against whom it was entered in any county in this State from
the time a transcript, certified copy or memorandum of the order of
revival is filed in the office of the recorder in the county in
which the real estate is located.
A foreign judgment registered or filed pursuant to Sections 12-630 through 12-672
of this Act is a lien upon the real estate of the person against whom it
was entered only from the time (1) a copy of the affidavit required by Section 12-653 with a copy of the foreign judgment attached showing the filing in a court of this State or (2) a transcript,
certified copy or memorandum of a final judgment of the court of this
State entered on an action to enforce a foreign judgment is filed in the office of the
recorder in the county in which the real estate is located. However, no
such judgment shall be a lien on any real estate registered under "An Act
concerning land titles", as amended, until Section 85 of that Act has been
complied with.
The release of any transcript, certified copy or memorandum of judgment
or order of revival which has been recorded shall be filed by the person
receiving the release in the office of the recorder in which such
judgment or order has been recorded.
Such release shall contain in legible letters a statement as follows:
FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE OWNER, THIS RELEASE SHALL | BE FILED WITH THE RECORDER OR THE REGISTRAR OF TITLES IN WHOSE OFFICE THE LIEN WAS FILED. |
The term "memorandum" as used in this Section means a memorandum or copy
of the judgment signed by a judge or a copy attested by the clerk of the
court entering it and showing the court in which entered,
date, amount, number of the case in which it was entered, name of the
party in whose favor and name and last known address of the party
against whom entered. If the address of the party against whom the
judgment was entered is not known, the memorandum or copy of judgment
shall so state.
The term "memorandum" as used in this Section also means a memorandum
or copy of a child support order signed by a judge or a copy attested by
the clerk of the court entering it or a copy attested by the administrative
body entering it.
This Section shall not be construed as showing an intention of the
legislature to create a new classification of real estate, but shall be
construed as showing an intention of the legislature to continue a
classification already existing.
(Source: P.A. 97-350, eff. 1-1-12; 98-557, eff. 1-1-14.)
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 40
cases (11 in the last 5 years), 1995–2025 · leading case: Wells Fargo Bank, NA v. Heritage Bank of Cent. Illinois, 2013 IL App (3d) 110706 (Ill. App. Ct. 2013).
Wells Fargo Bank, NA v. Heritage Bank of Cent. Illinois, 2013 IL App (3d) 110706 (Ill. App. Ct. 2013). “The parties seemingly further acknowledge that if the trial court correctly found that Black Hawk had no valid lien against the property for any period of time after Wells Fargo and Heritage recorded their mortgages, then Black Hawk lost its priority.”
Schindler v. Watson, 2017 IL App (2d) 160126 (Ill. App. Ct. 2017). “See 735 ILCS 5/12-101 (West 2004). ¶5 On March 25, 2011, approximately two months prior to the scheduled expiration of the judgment and the corresponding lien, Watson sold the subject property to the Cozzis.”
Manistee Apts., LLC v. City of Chicago, 844 F.3d 630 (7th Cir. 2016). “735 ILCS 5/12-101; 65 ILCS 5/1-2.1-8(d). Plaintiff contends that it first received actual notice of this lien (as opposed to constructive notice, which it received as soon as the lien was recorded) during routine title insurance review and underwriting that occurred as it was…”
Blewitt v. Urban, 2020 IL App (3d) 180722 (Ill. App. Ct. 2020). “15-CH-1884 on the grounds that both the Urbans’ September 16, 2004, and February 28, 2006, memoranda of judgment were invalid due to a lack of strict compliance with section 12- 101 of the Code of Civil Procedure (Code) (735 ILCS 5/12-101 (West 2016)). Blewitt asserted the…”
United Cmty. Bank v. Prairie State Bank & Trust, 2012 IL App (4th) 110973 (Ill. App. Ct. 2012). “See 735 ILCS 5/12-101 (West 2010); 765 ILCS 5/30 (West 2010).”
In Re Marriage of King, 802 N.E.2d 1216 (Ill. 2003). “Pursuant to section 12-101 of the Code, a lien on real estate is created when a "transcript, certified copy or memorandum of the judgment" is filed in the office of the county recorder where the real estate is located.”
NAB Bank v. LaSalle Bank, N.A., 2013 IL App (1st) 121147 (Ill. App. Ct. 2013). “735 ILCS 5/12-101 et seq. (West 2010). The Toms were the only bidders, so their bid of $20,000 was successful.”
Stone Street Partners, LLC v. City of Chicago Dep't of Admin. Hearings, 2017 IL 117720 (Ill. 2017). “¶ 14 Count II of Stone Street’s complaint requested a declaratory judgment that the judgment recorded against its property in 2009 is null and void because the September 9, 1999, administrative judgment on which it is based (1) had expired, was not revived, and therefore was…”
In re Est. of Denten, 2012 IL App (2d) 110814 (Ill. App. Ct. 2012). “735 ILCS 5/12-101 (West 2010). ¶ 36 A supplementary proceeding is a postjudgment process that is designed to aid the judgment creditor in discovering assets to satisfy the judgment.”
In re Yotis, 518 B.R. 481 (Bankr. N.D. Ill. 2014). “The opinion interpreted the Illinois statutes establishing judgment liens and the tenancy by the entirety in a lengthy discussion: The basic provision establishing judgment liens in Illinois is 735 ILCS 5/12-101, which provides that “a judgment .”
Rivtis v. Turan, 2022 IL App (2d) 210489 (Ill. App. Ct. 2022). “” 735 ILCS 5/12-101 (West 2020). ¶ 21 The parties agree that defendant’s property falls under the second class of real property.”
In Re McNichols, 249 B.R. 160 (Bankr. N.D. Ill. 2000). “Pursuant to the filed claims, there are secured claims of Aetna which total $22,-769.06 and Equity in the sum of $44,500.00.”
— 735 ILCS 5/12-101(d) — 1 case
Maniez v. Citibank (Ill. App. Ct. 2010).
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the
Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and
treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.
|