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| 1 | AN ACT concerning regulation.
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| 2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| 3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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| 4 | Section 5. The Collection Agency Act is amended by changing | ||||||
| 5 | Section 2 and by adding Sections 8.5 and 8.6 as follows:
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| 6 | (225 ILCS 425/2) (from Ch. 111, par. 2002)
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| 7 | (Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2016)
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| 8 | Sec. 2. Definitions. In this Act:
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| 9 | "Charge-off balance" means an account principal and other | ||||||
| 10 | legally collectible costs, expenses, and interest accrued | ||||||
| 11 | prior to the charge-off date, less any payments or settlement. | ||||||
| 12 | "Charge-off date" means the date on which a receivable is | ||||||
| 13 | treated as a loss or expense. | ||||||
| 14 | "Consumer credit transaction" means a transaction between | ||||||
| 15 | a natural person and another person in which property, service, | ||||||
| 16 | or money is acquired on credit by that natural person from such | ||||||
| 17 | other person primarily for personal, family, or household | ||||||
| 18 | purposes. | ||||||
| 19 | "Consumer debt" or "consumer credit" means money, | ||||||
| 20 | property, or their equivalent, due or owing or alleged to be | ||||||
| 21 | due or owing from a natural person by reason of a consumer | ||||||
| 22 | credit transaction. | ||||||
| 23 | "Creditor" means a person who extends consumer credit to a | ||||||
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| 1 | debtor. | ||||||
| 2 | "Current balance" means the charge-off balance plus any | ||||||
| 3 | legally collectible costs, expenses, and interest, less any | ||||||
| 4 | credits or payments. | ||||||
| 5 | "Debt" means money, property, or their equivalent which is | ||||||
| 6 | due or owing or alleged to be due or owing from a natural | ||||||
| 7 | person to another person. | ||||||
| 8 | "Debt buyer" means a person or entity that is engaged in | ||||||
| 9 | the business of purchasing delinquent or charged-off consumer | ||||||
| 10 | loans or consumer credit accounts or other delinquent consumer | ||||||
| 11 | debt for collection purposes, whether it collects the debt | ||||||
| 12 | itself or hires a third-party for collection or an | ||||||
| 13 | attorney-at-law for litigation in order to collect such debt. | ||||||
| 14 | "Debt collection" means any act or practice in connection | ||||||
| 15 | with the collection of consumer debts. | ||||||
| 16 | "Debt collector", "collection agency", or "agency" means | ||||||
| 17 | any person who, in the ordinary course of business, regularly, | ||||||
| 18 | on behalf of himself or herself or others, engages in debt | ||||||
| 19 | collection. | ||||||
| 20 | "Debtor" means a natural person from whom a debt collector | ||||||
| 21 | seeks to collect a consumer debt that is due and owing or | ||||||
| 22 | alleged to be due and owing from such person. | ||||||
| 23 | "Department" means Division of Professional Regulation | ||||||
| 24 | within the Department of Financial and Professional | ||||||
| 25 | Regulation. | ||||||
| 26 | "Director" means the Director of the Division of | ||||||
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| 1 | Professional Regulation within the Department of Financial and | ||||||
| 2 | Professional Regulation. | ||||||
| 3 | "Person" means a natural person, partnership, corporation, | ||||||
| 4 | limited liability company, trust, estate, cooperative, | ||||||
| 5 | association, or other similar entity.
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| 6 | (Source: P.A. 95-437, eff. 1-1-08.)
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| 7 | (225 ILCS 425/8.5 new) | ||||||
| 8 | Sec. 8.5. Debt buyers. A debt buyer shall be subject to all | ||||||
| 9 | of the terms, conditions, and requirements of this Act, except | ||||||
| 10 | as otherwise provided for in subsection (b) of Section 8.6 of | ||||||
| 11 | this Act. | ||||||
| 12 | (225 ILCS 425/8.6 new) | ||||||
| 13 | Sec. 8.6. Debt buyer activities. | ||||||
| 14 | (a) Debt buyers initiating actions upon an obligation | ||||||
| 15 | arising out of a consumer debt shall be commenced within the | ||||||
| 16 | applicable statute of limitations period. | ||||||
| 17 | (b) With respect to its activities as a debt buyer in | ||||||
| 18 | pursuing the collection of accounts it owns, a debt buyer shall | ||||||
| 19 | be subject to all of the terms, conditions, and requirements of | ||||||
| 20 | this Act, except that a debt buyer shall not be required to (i) | ||||||
| 21 | file and maintain in force a surety bond under Section 8 of | ||||||
| 22 | this Act; (ii) maintain a trust account under Section 8c of | ||||||
| 23 | this Act; (iii) procure written authorization to refer the | ||||||
| 24 | account to an attorney for suit under Section 8a-1 of this Act; | ||||||
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| 1 | or (iv) adhere to the assignment for collection criteria under | ||||||
| 2 | Section 8b of this Act. | ||||||
| 3 | (c) The Attorney General may enforce against debt buyers | ||||||
| 4 | the provisions identified in Section 9.7 of this Act as an | ||||||
| 5 | unlawful practice under the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive | ||||||
| 6 | Business Practices Act.
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| 7 | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect January | ||||||
| 8 | 1, 2013.
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