(305 ILCS 5/10-25)

Sec. 10-25. Administrative liens and levies on real property for past-due child support and for fines against a payor who wilfully fails to withhold or pay over income pursuant to a properly served income withholding notice or otherwise fails to comply with any duties imposed by the Income Withholding for Support Act.

(a) Notwithstanding any other State or local law to the contrary, the State shall have a lien on all legal and equitable interests of responsible relatives in their real property in the amount of past-due child support owing pursuant to an order for child support entered under Sections 10-10 and 10-11 of this Code, or under the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act, the Non-Support of Spouse and Children Act, the Non-Support Punishment Act, the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act, the Illinois Parentage Act of 1984, or the Illinois Parentage Act of 2015.

(a-5) The State shall have a lien on all legal and equitable interests of a payor, as that term is described in the Income Withholding for Support Act, in the payor's real property in the amount of any fine imposed by the Illinois Department pursuant to the Income Withholding for Support Act.

(b) The Illinois Department shall provide by rule for notice to and an opportunity to be heard by each responsible relative or payor affected, and any final administrative decision rendered by the Illinois Department shall be reviewed only under and in accordance with the Administrative Review Law.

(c) When enforcing a lien under subsection (a) of this Section, the Illinois Department shall have the authority to execute notices of administrative liens and levies, which shall contain the name and address of the responsible relative or payor, a legal description of the real property to be levied, the fact that a lien is being claimed for past-due child support or for the fines imposed on a payor pursuant to the Income Withholding for Support Act, and such other information as the Illinois Department may by rule prescribe. The Illinois Department shall record the notice of lien with the recorder or registrar of titles of the county or counties in which the real estate is located.

(d) The State's lien under subsection (a) shall be enforceable upon the recording or filing of a notice of lien with the recorder or registrar of titles of the county or counties in which the real estate is located. The lien shall be prior to any lien thereafter recorded or filed and shall be notice to a subsequent purchaser, assignor, or encumbrancer of the existence and nature of the lien. The lien shall be inferior to the lien of general taxes, special assessment, and special taxes heretofore or hereafter levied by any political subdivision or municipal corporation of the State.

In the event that title to the land to be affected by the notice of lien is registered under the Registered Titles (Torrens) Act, the notice shall be filed in the office of the registrar of titles as a memorial or charge upon each folium of the register of titles affected by the notice; but the State shall not have a preference over the rights of any bona fide purchaser, mortgagee, judgment creditor, or other lien holders registered prior to the registration of the notice.

(e) The recorder or registrar of titles of each county shall procure a file labeled "Child Support Lien Notices" and an index book labeled "Child Support Lien Notices". When notice of any lien is presented to the recorder or registrar of titles for filing, the recorder or registrar of titles shall file it in numerical order in the file and shall enter it alphabetically in the index. The entry shall show the name and last known address of the person or payor named in the notice, the serial number of the notice, the date and hour of filing, and the amount of child support or the amount of the fine imposed on the payor due at the time when the lien is filed.

(f) The Illinois Department shall not be required to furnish bond or make a deposit for or pay any costs or fees of any court or officer thereof in any legal proceeding involving the lien.

(g) To protect the lien of the State for past-due child support and for any fine imposed against a payor, the Illinois Department may, from funds that are available for that purpose, pay or provide for the payment of necessary or essential repairs, purchase tax certificates, pay balances due on land contracts, or pay or cause to be satisfied any prior liens on the property to which the lien hereunder applies.

(h) A lien on real property under this Section shall be released pursuant to Section 12-101 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

(i) The Illinois Department, acting in behalf of the State, may foreclose the lien in a judicial proceeding to the same extent and in the same manner as in the enforcement of other liens. The process, practice, and procedure for the foreclosure shall be the same as provided in the Code of Civil Procedure.

(Source: P.A. 99-85, eff. 1-1-16; 99-157, eff. 7-1-17; 99-642, eff. 7-28-16.)