delivered the opinion of the court:
Twо cases appealed from the circuit court of Cook County were consolidated by the appellate court. Both involved the foreclosure of numerous mechanics’ liens on title to property loсated in the village of Niles commonly known as the Green Lakes Shopping Center. Appellant, Chicago Title Insurance Company (Chicago Title), insured a mortgage interest in the property which included protection against losses from mechanics’ liens.
In 1973, a subcontractor, Vulcan Materials Company (Vulcan), brought one of the cases to foreclose its mechanic’s lien on the property. Appellee, Waner Heating and Air Cоnditioning Corporation (Waner), who had also filed mechanic’s liens against the property, was allowed to intervene in the case in 1976 (lien case). In the other case, Dovenmuehle, Inc., a mortgagee of the shopping center property, filed an action to foreclose its mortgage in 1977 and named Wanér as a defendant. Waner subsequently answered and by way of counterclaim also sought to foreclose its liens in this case (mortgаge case). It is the lien and mortgage cases that are before us on appeal.
In a separate proceeding, the property involved was sold for taxes (tax case). The tax purchasers at the tax sale assigned their interest to two individuals. These individuals later petitioned the court in the tax case to order the issuance of tax deeds. Waner was given notice of this proceeding but failed to appear. Tax deeds were issued to the two assignees, who subsequently quitclaimed their interest in the property to Chicago Title.
Chicago Title then filed motions to dismiss all of the mechanics’ lien claims in both the lien and mortgage cases. The cоurt granted these motions, finding that Chicago Title’s tax deeds represented superior title, and extinguished all prior claims. Only Waner appealed. A majority of the appellate court reversed (
Chicagо Title has raised various issues. Our review of the record reveals one issue to be dispositive of the appeal: Was the trial court in the tax case without jurisdiction to order the tax deeds to issue?
The record reveаls that in 1972 American National Bank and Trust Company (American) held legal title, in various land trusts, to the property involved. The beneficiary of these trusts, Morris Suson, was the owner of Bee Construction Company, which acted as develоper and general contractor for construction of the shopping center. In 1973, after some initial construction was completed, Bee Construction failed to pay Vulcan for materials supplied and Vulcan instituted the lien case.
In August of 1974, Dovenmuehle made a loan of $7.3 million to American, on Suson’s behalf, to further the construction of the shopping center. Dovenmuehle was given a mortgage as security for the loan. To prоtect its mortgage interest, Dovenmuehle obtained a mortgage insurance policy from Chicago Title which included protection against any losses from mechanics’ liens.
In 1975, Suson experienced financing problems. Hе failed to pay numerous subcontractors, and construction delays ensued. Thereafter, Suson defaulted on Dovenmuehle’s construction loan and did not pay the 1975 real estate taxes. The shopping center property was then sold, pursuant to court order, at the annual tax sale in November 1976 to Interstate Bond Company and Thornton, Ltd. There is no dispute over the validity of this sale. Any person with an interest in the property had two years from the date of this sale to redeem the property. (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1975, ch. 120, par. 734.) Two months
Waner admits being served with notice, but neither appeared in nor objected to the proceedings in the tax case. After a hearing on November 30, 1979, the tax court entered an order directing the issuance of tax deeds to Mergili and Wajda. In doing so, the court expressly found that the redemption period had expired and the property had not been redeemed; that all taxes and special assessments had been paid; and that the petitioners had complied with all the provisions of law entitling them to tax deeds, including the notice provisions. On December 3, 1979, Mergili and Wajda quitclaimed to Chicago Title their interests obtained in the property
In February 1980, Chicago Title filed motions to dismiss all of the mechanics’ lien claims in the lien and mortgage cases. In response, Waner requested time to discover the relationship between Chicago Title and Dovenmuehle in an attempt to provе that Chicago Title’s tax deeds were acquired fraudulently and were therefore void. On May 9, 1980, the court in both the lien and mortgage cases denied Waner’s request and granted Chicago Title’s motion to dismiss. Waner then appeаled to the appellate court from these orders.
After filing its notices of appeal, Waner discovered three letters attached to the pleadings in a separate class action suit, then pending trial in the circuit court, concerning the relationship between Chicago Title and Dovenmuehle. Waner was not a party in that suit, but requested that the appellate court take judicial notice of and consider the cоntents of these letters in ruling on the pending appeals in the lien and mortgage cases.
The appellate court, without mention in its opinion, took judicial notice of these letters and considered the facts allеged in them in ruling on the propriety of Chicago Title’s motion to dismiss. Based upon the unproved pleadings in the pending class action suit, the court found that Chicago Title, through its employees Mergili and Wajda, had misrepresented facts before the tax court in order to obtain the tax deeds. The majority then concluded Chicago Title had fraudulently invoked the jurisdiction of the tax court and that this rendered both its jurisdiction and subsequent order issuing the tax deeds void.
Waner admits that its challenge of the tax deeds in the lien and mortgage cases constitutes a collateral attack upon the tax court’s order for issuance of tax deeds. It does so on the basis that the tax court’s order is void.
It is well established that once a court acquires jurisdiction, subsequent fraud, concealment, or perjury will not render its order void. (Schwarz v. Schwarz (1963),
Our determination that the tax deeds were at most voidable renders Waner’s collateral attack in the lien and mortgage cases imрroper. Under section 266 of the Act, tax deeds were incontestable except by direct appeal or by filing a motion under section 72 of the Civil Practice
On appeal, the parties have not disputed the аppellate court’s use of judicial notice. We note that judicial notice may be taken of factual evidence where the facts are capable of immediate and accurate demonstratiоn by resort to easily accessible sources of indisputable accuracy. (People v. Davis (1976),
“[A] court will not take judicial notice of critical evidentiary material not presented in the court below, and this is especially true of evidence which may be significant in the proper determination of the issues between the parties.”
Waner also filed a motion in this court to strike certain portions of Chicago Title’s reply brief. This motion was taken with the case. The disputed sections оf Chicago Title’s reply brief refer to a subsequent section 72 proceedings brought by Waner in the tax case. Those proceedings are beyond the record in this appeal and, for the reasons stated above, hаve not been considered in determining the propriety of Chicago Title’s motions to dismiss Waner’s mechanic’s lien claims in the lien and mortgage cases. Therefore, Waner’s motion to strike is allowed.
For the reasons stated, the judgment of the appellate court is reversed and the judgments of the circuit court of Cook County in cases 73—CH—978 and 76—CH—477 (cons.) and 77—CH—613 are affirmed.
Appellate court reversed; circuit court affirmed.