Full Text of SB1369 99th General Assembly
SB1369enr 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning government.
| 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
| 3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
| 4 | | Section 5. The Collection Agency Act is amended by changing | 5 | | Sections 2, 9.1, 9.2, and 9.3 and by adding Section 60 as | 6 | | follows:
| 7 | | (225 ILCS 425/2) (from Ch. 111, par. 2002)
| 8 | | (Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2026)
| 9 | | Sec. 2. Definitions. In this Act:
| 10 | | "Address of record" means the designated address recorded | 11 | | by the Department in the applicant's or licensee's application | 12 | | file or license file as maintained by the Department's | 13 | | licensure maintenance unit. It is the duty of the applicant or | 14 | | licensee to inform the Department of any change of address and | 15 | | those changes must be made either through the Department's | 16 | | website or by contacting the Department. | 17 | | "Board" means the Collection Agency Licensing and | 18 | | Disciplinary Board. | 19 | | "Charge-off balance" means an account principal and other | 20 | | legally collectible costs, expenses, and interest accrued | 21 | | prior to the charge-off date, less any payments or settlement. | 22 | | "Charge-off date" means the date on which a receivable is | 23 | | treated as a loss or expense. |
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| 1 | | "Collection agency" means any person who, in the ordinary | 2 | | course of business, regularly, on behalf of himself or herself | 3 | | or others, engages in the collection of a debt. | 4 | | "Consumer debt" or "consumer credit" means money or
| 5 | | property, or their equivalent, due or owing or alleged to be
| 6 | | due or owing from a natural person by reason of a consumer | 7 | | credit transaction. | 8 | | "Credit transaction" means a transaction between a natural | 9 | | person and another person in which property, service, or money | 10 | | is acquired on credit by that natural person from such other | 11 | | person primarily for personal, family, or household purposes. | 12 | | "Creditor" means a person who extends consumer credit to a | 13 | | debtor. | 14 | | "Current balance" means the charge-off balance plus any | 15 | | legally collectible costs, expenses, and interest, less any | 16 | | credits or payments. | 17 | | "Debt" means money, property, or their equivalent which is | 18 | | due or owing or alleged to be due or owing from a person to | 19 | | another person. | 20 | | "Debt buyer" means a person or entity that is engaged in | 21 | | the business of purchasing delinquent or charged-off consumer | 22 | | loans or consumer credit accounts or other delinquent consumer | 23 | | debt for collection purposes, whether it collects the debt | 24 | | itself or hires a third-party for collection or an | 25 | | attorney-at-law for litigation in order to collect such debt. | 26 | | "Debtor" means a person from whom a collection agency seeks |
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| 1 | | to collect a consumer or commercial debt that is due and owing | 2 | | or alleged to be due and owing from such person. | 3 | | "Department" means the Department of Financial and | 4 | | Professional Regulation. | 5 | | "Person" means a natural person, partnership, corporation, | 6 | | limited liability company, trust, estate, cooperative, | 7 | | association, or other similar entity.
| 8 | | "Licensed collection agency" means a person who is licensed | 9 | | under this Act to engage in the practice of debt collection in | 10 | | Illinois. | 11 | | "Secretary" means the Secretary of Financial and | 12 | | Professional Regulation. | 13 | | (Source: P.A. 99-227, eff. 8-3-15.)
| 14 | | (225 ILCS 425/9.1) | 15 | | (Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2026) | 16 | | Sec. 9.1. Communication with persons other than debtor. Any | 17 | | collection agency communicating with any person other than the | 18 | | debtor for the purpose of acquiring location information about | 19 | | the debtor shall: | 20 | | (1) identify himself or herself, state that he or she | 21 | | is confirming or correcting location information | 22 | | concerning the consumer, and , only if expressly requested, | 23 | | identify his or her employer; | 24 | | (2) not state that the consumer owes any debt; | 25 | | (3) not communicate with any person more than once |
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| 1 | | unless
requested to do so by the person or unless the | 2 | | collection agency reasonably believes that the earlier | 3 | | response of the person is erroneous or incomplete and that | 4 | | the person now has correct or complete location | 5 | | information; | 6 | | (4) not communicate by postcard; | 7 | | (5) not use any language or symbol on any envelope or | 8 | | in the contents of any communication effected by mail or | 9 | | telegram that indicates that the collection agency is in | 10 | | the debt collection business or that the communication | 11 | | relates to the collection of a debt; and | 12 | | (6) not communicate with any person other than the | 13 | | attorney after the collection agency knows the debtor is | 14 | | represented by an attorney with regard to the subject debt | 15 | | and has knowledge of or can readily ascertain the | 16 | | attorney's name and address, unless the attorney fails to | 17 | | respond within a reasonable period of time, not less than | 18 | | 30 days, to communication from the collection agency.
| 19 | | This Section applies to a collection agency or debt buyer | 20 | | only when engaged in the collection of consumer debt. | 21 | | (Source: P.A. 99-227, eff. 8-3-15.) | 22 | | (225 ILCS 425/9.2) | 23 | | (Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2026) | 24 | | Sec. 9.2. Communication in connection with debt | 25 | | collection. |
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| 1 | | (a) Without the prior consent of the debtor given directly | 2 | | to the collection agency or the express permission of a court | 3 | | of competent jurisdiction, a collection agency may not | 4 | | communicate with a debtor in connection with the collection of | 5 | | any debt in any of the following circumstances: | 6 | | (1) At any unusual time, place, or manner that is known | 7 | | or should be known to be inconvenient to the debtor. In the | 8 | | absence of knowledge of circumstances to the contrary, a | 9 | | collection agency shall assume that the convenient time for | 10 | | communicating with a debtor is after 8:00 a.m. and before | 11 | | 9:00 p.m. local time at the debtor's location. | 12 | | (2) If the collection agency knows the debtor is | 13 | | represented by an attorney with respect to such debt and | 14 | | has knowledge of or can readily ascertain, the attorney's | 15 | | name and address, unless the attorney fails to respond | 16 | | within a reasonable period of time to a communication from | 17 | | the collection agency or unless the attorney consents to | 18 | | direct communication with the debtor. | 19 | | (3) At the debtor's place of employment, if the | 20 | | collection agency knows or has reason to know that the | 21 | | debtor's employer prohibits the debtor from receiving such | 22 | | communication. | 23 | | (b) Except as provided in Section 9.1 of this Act, without | 24 | | the prior consent of the debtor given directly to the | 25 | | collection agency, the express permission of a court of | 26 | | competent jurisdiction, or as reasonably necessary to |
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| 1 | | effectuate a post judgment judicial remedy, a collection agency | 2 | | may not communicate, in connection with the collection of any | 3 | | debt, with any person other than the debtor, the debtor's | 4 | | attorney, a consumer reporting agency if otherwise permitted by | 5 | | law, the creditor, the attorney of the creditor, or the | 6 | | attorney of the collection agency. | 7 | | (c) If a debtor notifies a collection agency in writing | 8 | | that the debtor refuses to pay a debt or that the debtor wishes | 9 | | the collection agency to cease further communication with the | 10 | | debtor, the collection agency may not communicate further with | 11 | | the debtor with respect to such debt, except to perform any of | 12 | | the following tasks: | 13 | | (1) Advise the debtor that the collection agency's | 14 | | further efforts are being terminated. | 15 | | (2) Notify the debtor that the collection agency or | 16 | | creditor may invoke specified remedies that are ordinarily | 17 | | invoked by such collection agency or creditor. | 18 | | (3) Notify the debtor that the collection agency or | 19 | | creditor intends to invoke a specified remedy. | 20 | | If such notice from the debtor is made by mail, | 21 | | notification shall be complete upon receipt.
| 22 | | (d) For the purposes of this Section, "debtor" includes the | 23 | | debtor's spouse, parent (if the debtor is a minor), guardian, | 24 | | executor, or administrator.
| 25 | | (e) This Section applies to a collection agency or debt | 26 | | buyer only when engaged in the collection of consumer debt. |
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| 1 | | (Source: P.A. 99-227, eff. 8-3-15.) | 2 | | (225 ILCS 425/9.3) | 3 | | (Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2026) | 4 | | Sec. 9.3. Validation of debts. | 5 | | (a) Within 5 days after the initial communication with a | 6 | | debtor in connection with the collection of any debt, a | 7 | | collection agency shall, unless the following information is | 8 | | contained in the initial communication or the debtor has paid | 9 | | the debt, send the debtor a written notice with each of the | 10 | | following disclosures: | 11 | | (1) The amount of the debt. | 12 | | (2) The name of the creditor to whom the debt is owed. | 13 | | (3) That, unless the debtor, within 30 days after | 14 | | receipt of the notice,
disputes the validity of the debt, | 15 | | or any portion thereof, the debt will be assumed to be | 16 | | valid by the collection agency. | 17 | | (4) That, if the debtor notifies the collection agency | 18 | | in writing within the 30-day period that the debt, or any | 19 | | portion thereof, is disputed, the collection agency will | 20 | | obtain verification of the debt or a copy of a judgment | 21 | | against the debtor and a copy of the verification or | 22 | | judgment will be mailed to the debtor by the collection | 23 | | agency. | 24 | | (5) That upon the debtor's written request within the | 25 | | 30-day period, the The collection agency will provide the |
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| 1 | | debtor with the name and address of the original creditor, | 2 | | if different from the current creditor.
If the disclosures | 3 | | required under this subsection (a) are placed on the back | 4 | | of the notice, the front of the notice shall contain a | 5 | | statement notifying debtors of that fact. | 6 | | (b) If the debtor notifies the collection agency in writing | 7 | | within the 30-day period set forth in paragraph (3) of | 8 | | subsection (a) of this Section that the debt, or any portion | 9 | | thereof, is disputed or that the debtor requests the name and | 10 | | address of the original creditor , the collection agency shall | 11 | | cease collection of the debt, or any disputed portion thereof, | 12 | | until the collection agency obtains verification of the debt or | 13 | | a copy of a judgment or the name and address of the original | 14 | | creditor and mails a copy of the verification or judgment or | 15 | | name and address of the original creditor to the debtor. | 16 | | (c) The failure of a debtor to dispute the validity of a | 17 | | debt under this Section shall not be construed by any court as | 18 | | an admission of liability by the debtor.
| 19 | | (d) This Section applies to a collection agency or debt | 20 | | buyer only when engaged in the collection of consumer debt. | 21 | | (Source: P.A. 99-227, eff. 8-3-15.) | 22 | | (225 ILCS 425/60 new) | 23 | | Sec. 60. Liability; federal compliance. A collection | 24 | | agency or a debt buyer shall not be subject to civil liability | 25 | | for its failure to comply with Section 2, 9.1, 9.2, or 9.3 of |
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| 1 | | this Act, as amended by Public Act 99-227, if the collection | 2 | | agency or the debt buyer can demonstrate compliance with | 3 | | comparable provisions of the federal Fair Debt Collection | 4 | | Practices Act.
| 5 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 6 | | becoming law.
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