Background
Landlord Christy Dukes filed an eviction action against tenant Amelia Fulgham, alleging $24,000 in unpaid rent. On the date set for trial, the parties entered an agreed settlement order under which Fulgham would vacate by December 31, 2025, and pay $16,500 toward past-due rent, assessments, costs, and other lease amounts in monthly installments beginning November 5. The order also provided for a judgment upon proof of noncompliance.
Dukes moved to default Fulgham after the first installment was not paid by November 5. Fulgham responded that she sent the payment on November 8 and argued that the settlement required payments to begin on, rather than be made by, November 5. The circuit court held an evidentiary hearing, granted the default motion in part, entered a $17,500 money judgment for past-due rent, and awarded possession to Dukes. Fulgham appealed.
The Court’s Holding
The appellate court affirmed. The common-law record expressly showed that the circuit court conducted an evidentiary hearing on Dukes’s default motion, with the parties, counsel, and Dukes’s witness present. Fulgham did not include a transcript or authorized substitute for that hearing in the appellate record.
Under Illinois law, an appellant bears the burden of providing a complete record. Without the hearing transcript, the court presumed the circuit court acted lawfully and had an adequate factual basis for its findings. The settlement order did not cap a default judgment at $16,500 because the parties selected the provision authorizing judgment for rent, assessments, and costs that Dukes proved remained owing. The incomplete record also prevented review of Fulgham’s claims that her payments were not credited or that the $17,500 award rested on improper extrinsic evidence or arithmetic.
Key Takeaways
- An order expressly identifying a proceeding as an evidentiary hearing can defeat a claim that no evidentiary hearing occurred.
- An appellant challenging findings made after a hearing must provide a transcript or suitable substitute for meaningful appellate review.
- Where the record is incomplete, reviewing courts presume the trial court’s judgment had a sufficient factual and legal basis.
Why It Matters
The decision underscores the practical force of the record-preservation rule in eviction and settlement-enforcement appeals. A tenant challenging a default judgment must provide the record needed to show error; otherwise, claimed factual and accounting disputes generally cannot be reviewed.
The order was issued under Illinois Supreme Court Rule 23 and is nonprecedential except as Rule 23(e)(1) permits.