Justice KILBRIDE delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion.
In this appeal, we address whether section 1 of the Sureties Act (740 ILCS 155/1 (West 2000)) is applicable to guarantors. JPMorgan Chase Bank (Bank) filed suit against Earth Foods, Inc., for breach of contract, and against Michael Jarvis, Theodore L. Petrovich, and Leonard S. DeFranco as guarantors of a defaulted loan. DeFranco sought protection under section 1 of the Sureties Act.
The circuit court of Kane County granted summary judgment in favor of the Bank on the ground that DeFranco was a guarantor, not a surety, concluding that the Sureties Act was inapplicable. The appellate court affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded, finding that the term "surety," as used in the Sureties Act, encompasses both a surety and a guarantor. 386 Ill.App.3d 316, 325 Ill.Dec. 671, 898 N.E.2d 718.
We allowed the Bank's petition for leave to appeal. 210 Ill.2d R. 315. We now affirm in part and reverse in part the judgment of the appellate court and remand the cause to the trial court for further proceedings.
In 2001, the Bank extended a line of credit to Earth Foods, Inc. The three co-owners of Earth Foods, Michael Jarvis, Theodore Petrovich, and Leonard DeFranco, all personally guaranteed the loan. DeFranco was then vice president of Earth Foods. On April 3, 2003, DeFranco sent the Bank a letter warning that Earth Foods was depleting the inventory that was to serve as collateral for the loan and demanding the Bank take action. Earth Foods stopped making payments to the Bank in February 2004. On April 23, 2004, the Bank sent a notice of default and demand for payment.
On June 9, 2004, the Bank filed suit against Earth Foods and the three co-owners who guaranteed the note. DeFranco moved to dismiss the claim against him but did not dispute that he had agreed, as "guarantor," to pay all amounts owed by Earth Foods in the event of Earth Foods' default. Nonetheless, DeFranco's answer claimed an affirmative defense on the ground he was protected under section 1 of the Sureties Act (740 ILCS 155/1 (West 2000)). DeFranco claimed his guaranty obligation was discharged under the Sureties Act because the Sureties Act "applies to guarantors as well as sureties" and "[t]he law places no distinction" between guarantors and sureties. DeFranco maintained that the Bank was estopped from seeking payment from him because he notified the Bank that Earth Foods was operating at a financial loss.
On May 4, 2006, the Bank filed a motion for summary judgment against DeFranco. In his response to the Bank's motion for summary judgment, DeFranco stated, "The issue is not whether or not Mr. DeFranco understood the guaranty at the time that he signed it. The real issue is whether the bank is precluded from collecting on the guarantee." (Emphasis omitted.) The circuit court granted the Bank's motion for summary judgment, holding that the Sureties Act does not extend to guarantors.
The appellate court reversed, holding that guarantors may seek protection under the Sureties Act. 386 Ill.App.3d 316, 325 Ill.Dec. 671, 898 N.E.2d 718. The appellate court recognized that the relevant
We review the appellate court's reversal of the circuit court's grant of summary judgment in favor of the Bank. Summary judgment is appropriate only when "the pleadings, depositions, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." 735 ILCS 5/2-1005(c) (West 2000). We review de novo the propriety of a circuit court's grant of summary judgment. Williams v. Manchester, 228 Ill.2d 404, 417, 320 Ill.Dec. 784, 888 N.E.2d 1 (2008).
Whether the circuit court properly granted summary judgment in favor of the Bank turns on the interpretation of section 1 of the Sureties Act (740 ILCS 155/1 (West 2000)). We review de novo an issue of statutory construction. Boaden v. Department of Law Enforcement, 171 Ill.2d 230, 237, 215 Ill.Dec. 664, 664 N.E.2d 61 (1996).
Our primary objective in construing a statute is to ascertain and give effect to the intent of the legislature. MidAmerica Bank, FSB v. Charter One Bank, FSB, 232 Ill.2d 560, 565, 329 Ill.Dec. 1, 905 N.E.2d 839 (2009). The plain language of a statute is the most reliable indication of legislative intent. DeLuna v. Burciaga, 223 Ill.2d 49, 59, 306 Ill.Dec. 136, 857 N.E.2d 229 (2006). "[W]hen the language of the statute is clear, it must be applied as written without resort to aids or tools of interpretation." DeLuna, 223 Ill.2d at 59, 306 Ill.Dec. 136, 857 N.E.2d 229. The statute should be read as a whole and construed "so that no term is rendered superfluous or meaningless." In re Marriage of Kates, 198 Ill.2d 156, 163, 260 Ill.Dec. 309, 761 N.E.2d 153 (2001). We do not depart from the plain language of a statute by reading into it exceptions, limitations,
The Bank contends that the appellate court erred in looking to the "popularly understood" meaning of "surety," as opposed to its meaning in 1874, when the Sureties Act was enacted. Conversely, DeFranco contends that the Bank has waived or forfeited its argument that the term "surety" must be interpreted in light of its meaning at the time the Sureties Act was enacted in 1874.
The Bank's argument that the term "surety" must be interpreted in light of its meaning at the time the Sureties Act was enacted involves canons of statutory construction. Canons of statutory construction cannot be forfeited because they are not arguments. They are the principles that guide this court's construction of statutes. Canons of statutory construction are utilized in every statutory construction case whether a party raises them or not. To hold that canons of statutory construction are subject to forfeiture would mean that this court's construction of a particular statute could change from case to case depending on whether a party cited a particular cannon. This obviously cannot be so. Accordingly, we reject DeFranco's argument that the Bank waived or forfeited its contention that the term "surety" must be interpreted in light of its meaning at the time the Sureties Act was enacted in 1874.
This court has long recognized the fundamental rule of statutory construction that "`[s]tatutes are to be construed as they were intended to be construed when they were passed.'" O'Casek v. Children's Home & Aid Society of Illinois, 229 Ill.2d 421, 441, 323 Ill.Dec. 2, 892 N.E.2d 994 (2008), quoting People v. Boreman, 401 Ill. 566, 572, 82 N.E.2d 459 (1948). Additionally, we look to the well-known meaning of statutory terms at the time the law was passed. People v. Bailey, 232 Ill.2d 285, 290, 328 Ill.Dec. 22, 903 N.E.2d 409 (2009), citing Case v. Los Angeles Lumber Products Co., 308 U.S. 106, 115, 60 S.Ct. 1, 7, 84 L.Ed. 110, 119 (1939). See also 2A N. Singer, Sutherland on Statutory Construction § 46:04, at 152-53 (6th ed. 2000) ("if the term utilized [in a statute] has a settled legal meaning, the courts will normally infer that the legislature intended to incorporate the established meaning"). Moreover, "statutes in derogation of common law are to be strictly construed and nothing is to be read into such statutes by intendment or implication." Summers v. Summers, 40 Ill.2d 338, 342, 239 N.E.2d 795 (1968). "Even if a statute has remedial features but is in derogation of the common law, it will be strictly construed when determining what persons come within its operation." In re W.W., 97 Ill.2d 53, 57, 73 Ill.Dec. 347, 454 N.E.2d 207 (1983), citing Cedar Park Cemetery Ass'n, Inc. v. Cooper, 408 Ill. 79, 82-83, 96 N.E.2d 482 (1951); Lites v. Jackson, 70 Ill.App.3d 374, 376, 26 Ill.Dec. 288, 387 N.E.2d 1118 (1979).
We begin by examining the history of the Sureties Act. On March 24, 1819, the legislature passed "AN ACT providing for the relief of securities in a summary way in certain cases" (hereafter, Securities Act) Ill. Laws 1819, at 243. In 1819, section 1 of the Securities Act provided:
The Securities Act was amended in 1829, 1833, and 1845. See Ill. Laws 1829, at 155, § 1; Ill. Laws 1833, at 570, § 1; Ill. Laws 1845, at 493, § 1. The substance of section 1 of the Securities Act, however, remained the same in the 1845 version and in the 1819 version.
On February 27, 1874, the legislature passed "An Act to revise the law in relation [to] sureties" (hereafter, the Sureties Act). Ill.Rev.Stat. 1874, ch. 132, par. 1. In 1874, section 1 of the Sureties Act read:
The 1874 version of the Sureties Act changed the term "securities" to "sureties" and updated the language of the Act. The substance of the Act, however, remained the same, that is, providing that a surety may, by notice in writing, require the creditor to sue the principal, and if the creditor fails to sue, the creditor forfeits the right of action against the surety.
The language of the Sureties Act was updated in 1985, to provide as follows:
This court has recognized that dictionary definitions are reliable indicators of the meaning of an undefined statutory term. Price v. Philip Morris, Inc., 219 Ill.2d 182, 243, 302 Ill.Dec. 1, 848 N.E.2d 1 (2005). Legal dictionaries during the relevant time articulated a distinction between a "guarantor" and a "surety." One pre-1900 dictionary defined "guaranty" as "to undertake collaterally to answer for the payment of another's debt or the performance of another's duty, liability, or obligation," and a "surety" as "one who * * * becomes responsible for the performance [of the principal] of some act." (Emphasis added.) H. Black, A Law Dictionary Containing Definitions of the Terms & Phrases of American & English Jurisprudence 550, 1127 (1891). A 1901 edition of a relevant dictionary defined "guaranty" as "a collateral undertaking to pay the debt of another," and a "contract of suretyship" as a "direct liability for the act to be performed by the debtor." (Emphases added.) W. Shumaker & G. Longsdorf, The Cyclopedic Dictionary of Law Comprising the Terms and Phrases of American Jurisprudence 423 (1901).
Nevertheless, most treatises have recognized a guaranty as a form of suretyship. One such treatise explained:
Another, more recent, treatise defined suretyship broadly, as "a contractual relation whereby one person engages to be answerable for the debt or default of another. Within this broad definition fall contracts of guarantors and indorsers, as well as those of sureties in the restricted sense." J. Elder, Stearns Law of Suretyship 1 (1951).
These treatises, however, also articulated a clear distinction between a "guarantor" and a "surety." One treatise, remarking on the distinction between sureties and guarantors, stated: "the two classes of contracts should not be confounded, and that the rules of law applicable to only one, should not be applied indiscriminately to either." E. Baylies, A Treatise on the Rights, Remedies & Liabilities of Sureties & Guarantors 5 (1881). See also G. Brandt, The Law of Suretyship and Guaranty § 2, at 9 (1905) ("The words surety and guarantor are often used indiscriminately as synonymous terms; but while a surety and a guarantor have this in common, that they are both bound for another person, yet there are points of difference between them which should be carefully noted").
While these treatises recognized a guaranty as a form of suretyship, all of these treatises drew a clear distinction between the terms "surety" and a "guaranty" in the technical sense when describing the specific undertakings. As one treatise explained in distinguishing suretyship in its narrow or specific sense from guaranty:
G. Brandt, The Law of Suretyship and Guaranty § 2, at 9-10 (1905), explained the difference between surety and guarantor as follows:
Another treatise described the distinction between the obligation suretyship and guarantee as:
This clear distinction between the obligations of sureties and guarantors continued to exist even in 1922, when Corpus Juris stated:
Moreover, this court has reinforced this acknowledged distinction between guarantors and sureties. In Gridley v. Capen, 72 Ill. 11 (1874), this court recognized the distinction between guarantors and sureties:
Similarly, in Vermont Marble Co. v. Bayne, 356 Ill. 127, 190 N.E. 291 (1934), this court recognized:
Additionally, we note that many treatises shed light on statutory provisions giving sureties the right to compel the creditor to sue the principal. As one treatise explained:
This treatise then states that many jurisdictions passed statutes similar to Illinois' Sureties Act and that it was generally held the statute must be strictly followed, because the statute was in derogation of the common law. J. Elder, The Law of Suretyship § 6.38, at 168.
Another, even older, treatise recognized that such statutes have only applied to sureties, in the limited definition of that term, and that such statutes did not contemplate indorsers or accommodation indorsers as sureties. G. Brandt, The Law of Suretyship and Guaranty § 771, at 1350 (1905). In fact, this treatise notes one of our own cases that held a party could not avail himself of the statute when the note did not indicate the fact of suretyship. G.
Thus, the legal dictionaries, treatises, and court decisions have recognized a clear legal distinction between guarantors and sureties for nearly two centuries. The weight of relevant authority on this question is highly instructive in our consideration of the legislature's intent in passing the Act.
When discerning legislative intent, it is also proper to compare statutes relating to the same subject matter as well as statutes "upon related subjects though not strictly in pari materia" because "statutes are to be read in the light of attendant conditions and the state of the law existent at the time of their enactment." Boreman, 401 Ill. at 571-72, 82 N.E.2d 459. In 1895, the General Assembly added "guarantors" but not "sureties" in the existing Actions to Enforce Payment Act:
Our appellate court subsequently held that the Actions to Enforce Payment Act protected only guarantors and not sureties. See Harris v. Harris, 92 Ill.App. 455, 457 (1900). Thus, the distinction between sureties and guarantors is well established in Illinois jurisprudence. We note that decisions of our sister states issued prior to 1900 also recognized the legal and practical distinction between guarantors and sureties. See, e.g., Gaff v. Sims, 45 Ind. 262, 264-65 (1873) ("[t]here are important differences between the contract of suretyship and that of guaranty"); Reigart v. White, 52 Pa. 438, 440 (1866) ("the best solution of the difference [between a surety and guarantor is]; a contract of suretyship being a direct liability * * * and a guaranty being a liability only for his ability to perform this act"); Allen v. Herrick, 81 Mass. 274, 285 (1860) ("The liability of a guarantor is not fixed and absolute until the party primarily liable on the contract has failed to perform it," and "[u]ntil such failure, the obligation of the guarantor is strictly collateral and contingent, and this constitutes the chief distinction between a contract of guaranty simply and that of principal and surety"); Perry v. Barret, 18 Mo. 140, 146 (1853) (holding that the trial court erred in its instructions, treating the case as one of suretyship, and not as one of guarantee).
Nonetheless, the appellate court relied on Cobb, 200 F. 511, in determining that the legislature intended the term "surety" in its most general sense of that term. In Cobb, the First Circuit noted that the term "surety" had both a special sense and a general sense but disagreed with the plaintiff's argument that the legislature intended the special sense:
The problem with the Cobb court's analysis is that the Sureties Act does not specifically give guarantors any protected rights. Additionally, while guarantors may be entitled to equitable rights of protection, as noted in Cobb, the Sureties Act provides a statutory right.
Moreover, the Cobb court glossed over the decision in Ross v. Jones, Brown & Co., 89 U.S. (22 Wall.) 576, 2 L.Ed. 730 (1875). In Ross, the United States Supreme Court held that an indorser of a note is not a "person bound as security," within the meaning of an Arkansas statute strikingly similar to the Sureties Act. The Arkansas statute provided:
In holding that the indorser of a note or bill is not a surety within the meaning of the Arkansas statute, the Supreme Court reasoned:
The Supreme Court further explained:
The Supreme Court then recognized that the Arkansas statute was passed in derogation of the common law and should be construed strictly. Ross, 89 U.S. (22 Wall.) at 591-92, 22 L.Ed. at 735. Accordingly, the Court held that an indorser is not a surety within the meaning of the Arkansas statute. Ross, 89 U.S. (22 Wall.) at 594, 22 L.Ed. at 736. Our construction of the Sureties Act is consistent with Ross.
We acknowledge that the appellate court gave two other bases for its holding: (1) that the policy behind the Act—to compel diligence by a creditor to make certain a surety is protected against loss—applies equally to sureties and to guarantors; and (2) that the word "surety" is used in the Act without any words of limitation or explanation. However, given the clear weight of authority that drew a distinction between guarantors and sureties at the relevant time, these reasons are not sufficient to convince us that the legislature meant to use the term "surety" in its general sense.
In sum, a suretyship differs from a guaranty in that a suretyship is a primary obligation to see that the debt is paid, while a guaranty is a collateral undertaking, an obligation in the alternative to pay the debt if the principal does not. We hold that the General Assembly did not intend the term "surety" to include guarantors and, therefore, the protections afforded under this plain language chosen by the legislature in the Sureties Act are not applicable to guarantors. Accordingly, we reverse that part of the appellate court judgment holding that the Sureties Act applies to guarantors.
We next consider whether the trial court properly entered summary judgment in favor of the Bank. We reiterate that summary judgment is appropriate only when "the pleadings, depositions, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." 735 ILCS 5/2-1005(c) (West 2000).
DeFranco contends, for the first time in his brief to this court, that he is a surety and not a guarantor or, "at the very least, a dispute remains over whether DeFranco stands as a surety or guarantor." The Bank contends that DeFranco
DeFranco contends that the circuit court erred in entering summary judgment in favor of the Bank because the contract language of the signed instrument made him a surety and, therefore, the Sureties Act is applicable, despite the use of the word "guarantee" in the instrument. We agree with DeFranco that the use of the terms "guarantee" or "surety" in an instrument "does not necessarily determine whether the liability intended to be created was that of a guarantor or a surety." Vermont Marble Co., 356 Ill. at 131, 190 N.E. 291. Rather, when viewed as a whole along with any other evidence of the parties' intentions and the circumstances, a written instrument such as the one DeFranco signed may be construed to create a suretyship despite its use of the term "guarantee."
Indeed, this court has expressly recognized that parol evidence may be used to determine whether a suretyship exists, even when a party "`insists upon a strict construction of the word "guarantee," contained in its contract.'" Vermont Marble Co., 356 Ill. at 133, 190 N.E. 291, quoting with approval Border Nat. Bank of Eagle Pass v. American Nat. Bank of San Francisco, 282 F. 73, 78 (5th Cir.1922). As this court explained,
Thus, "[t]he question is one of [the parties'] intention[s] and depends upon the circumstances," permitting the court to consider factual matters outside the language of the document to determine the true nature of the relationship intended between the parties. (Emphasis added.) Vermont Marble Co., 356 Ill. at 133, 190 N.E. 291. See also E. Spencer, The General Law of Suretyship § 92, at 123 ("Where the language of a contract of guarantee or suretyship is ambiguous and susceptible of more than one interpretation, parol evidence will be freely admitted as in the case of other written contracts").
In Tinker v. Catlin, 205 Ill. 108, 118-19, 68 N.E. 773 (1903), this court considered
Here the case was decided on summary judgment, denying both the parties and trial court the benefit of the full development of DeFranco's argument about whether the parties intended him to be a surety even though the written agreement referred only to a "guarantee." In the absence of the full development of DeFranco's current argument, the trial court never had the opportunity to rule on the merits of this position.
Because genuine issues of material fact remain over whether the parties intended that DeFranco stand as a surety or guarantor under his agreement with the Bank, we hold that the circuit court erroneously entered summary judgment in favor of the Bank. We therefore affirm that part of the appellate court judgment holding that the trial court erred in entering summary judgment in favor of the Bank. We remand the cause to the trial court for further proceedings to determine the intent of the parties from the language and circumstances of the agreement.
For the foregoing reasons, we affirm in part and reverse in part the judgment of the appellate court, reverse the judgment of the circuit court, and remand the cause to the circuit court for further proceedings.
Appellate court judgment affirmed in part and reversed in part; circuit court judgment reversed; cause remanded.
Chief Justice FITZGERALD and Justices FREEMAN, THOMAS, GARMAN, KARMEIER, and BURKE concurred in the judgment and opinion.