Illinois Appellate Court Holds That A Summons Bearing The Clerk’s Stamped Named, Instead Of Cursive Signature, Is A Valid Summons

In National City v. Majerczyk (Case No. 11-06 December 23, 2011), the mortgagors appealed the circuit court’s denial of their motion to vacate the order approving the foreclosure sale. Mortgagors argued that the trial court did not acquire personal jurisdiction because the summons served upon them bore only the stamped name of the clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County instead of her cursive signature. The issue before the First District Illinois Appellate Court was what constitutes a signature for the purpose of Rule 101(a)? That rule provides that summons shall be issued under the seal of the court, [at]tested in the name of the clerk, and signed with his name.. In affirming the trial court’s judgment, the Appellate Court reviewed its prior precedents where it held that a signature is the act of putting down a person’s name to attest the validity of the instrument, however; it was not required to be written in a cursive form. Instead, the signature may be stamped, printed or made legible by using any other device. Black’s Law Dictionary also defines signature as [a] person’s name or mark written by that person or the person’s direction. Based on this authority the court concluded that the clerk’s stamped name constituted her signature for the purpose of the Rule 101(a) and affirmed the trial court’s judgment.

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