Ally Financial Inc. v. Pira (2017)
Citation: 2017 IL App (2d) 170213 (Illinois Official Reports) · Court: Appellate Court of Illinois, Second District, No. 2-17-0213 (opinion by Justice Hutchinson; Presiding Justice Hudson and Justice Spence concurring) · Filed: December 5, 2017. Text retrieved from the Illinois courts’ official PDF.
Facts
A borrower left his 2013 Chevrolet Silverado, financed by Ally Financial with a perfected security interest, at a detailing shop for USD 658 of detailing and minor repairs, completed the next day, and never returned. The shop refused to release the truck to Ally unless paid its storage fees — USD 27,780 by October 2015 at USD 60 a day — plus the work charges. Ally sued in replevin; on cross-motions for summary judgment the Lake County circuit court held the shop’s common-law possessory lien covered the repair charges but not storage. Ally recovered the truck and paid USD 681.
Holding
Affirmed. An artisan’s common-law possessory lien covers only the reasonable charges for the work that added value, not storage fees accruing afterwards. The shop was not a common carrier (it did not hold itself out to transport goods), so the carrier-storage line of cases did not help it.
Reasoning
The court confirmed that Bergeron Cadillac “remains applicable” because 810 ILCS 5/9-333 tracks former § 9-310 — so the repair lien primes the lender’s security interest (¶¶ 39–41). Following navistar-financial-v-allens-corner-garage-1987, common-law liens give only a right to retain; artisans are entitled to their work charges, while only common carriers may in some cases add storage. Country Mutual v. Styck’s Body Shop, 396 Ill. App. 3d 241 (2009), was distinguished. The court also explained at length why the procedural “dismissal with prejudice” was treated as a final judgment for Ally so the shop could appeal (¶¶ 21–35).
Practical impact
- Buyers / lenders: a lender can pay the repair bill only and replevy; storage claimed under the common-law lien is not a condition of release.
- Repairers: to recover storage, a shop must use a statutory lien (with its notice rules — for vehicles, certified notice to the lienholder before storage accrues, 770 ILCS 45/1.5 and 50/1.5) or sue on contract. See illinois module 12.3.
Good-law status
Published opinion; no subsequent negative treatment was found in the sources retrieved. Full citator
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Second verification pass (2026-10-16): citation, court, date, parties and holding re-checked against the opinion text at the source_url. No citator was available (CourtListener quota exhausted; a web search found no list of citing decisions) — citator not checked.
Applies in →
illinois · towing-storage-and-mechanics-lien-sales · motor-vehicles
Disclaimer: This page is legal information, not legal advice. Verify the cited opinion and current law and consult a licensed Illinois attorney before acting. Last verified: 2026-10-18.