Suppose after I get medical treatment from my Dr. Proctor, my medical insurer refuses to cover the procedure I had. Under Illinois law, can I lose my house to Proctor because I couldn’t pay my medical bill?

Among the 62 new bills Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker recently signed into law is one that will go into effect Jan. 1, 2027. It’s a law that stops creditors from putting a judgment lien on their residential homes when the creditor sues a debtor on a medical debt.

What’s a judgment lien, you ask?

If someone you think owes you money, and they won’t pay, you file a lawsuit in court against the alleged debtor. You, the creditor, are asking the judge to declare under the law that the debtor owes you an X amount of money. Even if you “win” the lawsuit and get a “judgment” for money (a judgment is a finding by a court that a party is entitled to whatever remedy the party was asking for in the lawsuit), the judgment for money in and of itself doesn’t immediately do anything about making the debtor pay.

One of the methods of trying to collect the money judgment is to file what is called a “judgment lien.” After judgment is declared by a court, certain paperwork evidencing the judgment is filed by the creditor in a county where the debtor/defendant owns real estate. If there is property owned by the debtor/defendant in the county where the judgment lien paperwork is filed, the creditor immediately has a lien on the property in the amount of the judgment. If the lien is filed in a county, and thereafter the debtor/defendant acquires ownership in real estate in that county, that lien then immediately attaches to that real estate.

So what is a lien? A lien is a legal claim a creditor has on someone’s property to secure the payment of a debt. It sort of acts as a guarantee to get paid. If the debtor who owes the money doesn’t pay the debt when they are supposed to, the creditor who has the lien rights on the debtor’s property then has the legal right to seize and sell that property to pay the debt.

In the case of a judgment lien on real estate under Illinois law, the enforcement of the lien through the seizing and selling of the real estate can only be done through another lawsuit called a “foreclosure.” Basically, the judgment lien foreclosure is a process wherein a court will order the sale of the liened property with the net proceeds going to the judgment creditor to pay down the previously awarded judgment. But the judgment creditor has to prove it has properly created a judgment lien on a particular piece of real estate owned by debtor/defendant.

In foreclosing the judgment lien, the debtor/defendant has the right to try to pay off the judgment up to six months after a sale was had by the creditor. Otherwise, the debtor/defendant will then lose ownership of the real estate. A judgment and its lien lasts seven years before the end of which the creditor has to file paperwork with the court to renew the judgment for another seven years. On a consumer debt, like a medical debt, the judgment and its lien, if any, can’t be renewed anymore after 15 years from when the judgment was first awarded by the court.

Starting in 2027, a creditor who gets a money judgment against a debtor for a medical debt will be barred from filing a judgment lien against the debtor’s residence. A creditor can still file a judgment lien against real estate of the debtor that is not used as their residence. The point of this law is to save homeowners from losing their homes because of the hardship of not having medical insurance covering their medical bills and can’t otherwise afford to pay the bills.

So, while Proctor can sue me ‘till he’s blue in the face, the shack I live in can’t have a judgment lien slapped on it by him after 2026.

But that won’t stop me from putting a judgment lien on Dr. Proctor’s mansion after I sue him for the proctological medical malpractice he committed on me and I get a money judgment against him. The view of his vineyards from his rear balcony is stunning.

Brett Kepley is an attorney practicing in Champaign. Send questions to The Law Q&A, 302 N. First St., Champaign, IL 61820.