Full Text of HB2491 103rd General Assembly
HB2491 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
| | 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024 HB2491 Introduced 2/15/2023, by Rep. Robert "Bob" Rita SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
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205 ILCS 740/9 | was 225 ILCS 425/9 |
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Amends the Collection Agency Act. In provisions concerning disciplinary actions by the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, provides that nothing shall prevent a debtor from choosing to make a payment that includes a transaction fee paid by the debtor if the transaction complies with specified conditions.
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| | A BILL FOR |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning regulation.
| 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 | 5 | | changing Section 9 as follows:
| 6 | | (205 ILCS 740/9) (was 225 ILCS 425/9)
| 7 | | (Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2026)
| 8 | | Sec. 9. Disciplinary actions. | 9 | | (a) The Department may refuse to issue or renew, or may
| 10 | | revoke, suspend, place on probation, reprimand or take other | 11 | | disciplinary or non-disciplinary
action as the Department may | 12 | | deem proper, including fines not to exceed $10,000 per | 13 | | violation, for any one or any combination of the
following | 14 | | causes:
| 15 | | (1) Material misstatement in furnishing information to | 16 | | the Department. | 17 | | (2) Violations of this Act or of the rules promulgated | 18 | | hereunder.
| 19 | | (3) Conviction by plea of guilty or nolo contendere, | 20 | | finding of guilt, jury verdict, or entry of judgment or by | 21 | | sentencing of any crime, including, but not limited to, | 22 | | convictions, preceding sentences of supervision, | 23 | | conditional discharge, or first offender probation of the |
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| 1 | | collection agency or any of the officers or owners of more | 2 | | than 10% interest of the agency
of any crime under the laws | 3 | | of any U.S. jurisdiction that (i) is a felony, (ii) is a | 4 | | misdemeanor, an essential element of which is dishonesty, | 5 | | or (iii) is directly related to the practice of a | 6 | | collection agency.
| 7 | | (4) Fraud or misrepresentation in applying for, or | 8 | | procuring, a license under this Act or in connection with | 9 | | applying for renewal of a license
under this Act. | 10 | | (5) Aiding or assisting another person in violating | 11 | | any provision of this Act or rules adopted under this Act. | 12 | | (6) Failing, within 60 days, to provide information in | 13 | | response to a written request made by the Department.
| 14 | | (7) Habitual or excessive use or addiction to alcohol, | 15 | | narcotics,
stimulants or any other chemical agent or drug | 16 | | which results in the
inability to practice with reasonable | 17 | | judgment, skill, or safety by any of
the officers or | 18 | | owners of 10% or more interest of a collection agency.
| 19 | | (8) Discipline by another state, the District of | 20 | | Columbia, a territory of the United States, or a foreign | 21 | | nation, if at
least one of the grounds for the discipline | 22 | | is the same or substantially
equivalent to those set forth | 23 | | in this Act.
| 24 | | (9) A finding by the Department that the licensee, | 25 | | after having his or her
license placed on probationary | 26 | | status, has violated the terms of probation. |
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| 1 | | (10) Willfully making or filing false records or | 2 | | reports in his or her practice, including, but not limited | 3 | | to, false records filed with State agencies or | 4 | | departments.
| 5 | | (11) Practicing or attempting to practice under a | 6 | | false or, except as provided by law, an assumed name.
| 7 | | (12) An adjudicated finding by the Federal Trade | 8 | | Commission or other federal or State agency that a | 9 | | licensee violated
the federal Fair Debt Collection | 10 | | Practices Act or its rules.
| 11 | | (13) Failure to file a return, or to pay the tax, | 12 | | penalty or interest
shown in a filed return, or to pay any | 13 | | final assessment of tax, penalty or
interest, as required | 14 | | by any tax Act administered by the Illinois
Department of | 15 | | Revenue until such time as the requirements of any such | 16 | | tax
Act are satisfied.
| 17 | | (14) Using or threatening to use force or violence to | 18 | | cause physical
harm to a debtor, his or her family or his | 19 | | or her property.
| 20 | | (15) Threatening to instigate an arrest or criminal | 21 | | prosecution where no
basis for a criminal complaint | 22 | | lawfully exists.
| 23 | | (16) Threatening the seizure, attachment or sale of a | 24 | | debtor's property
where such action can only be taken | 25 | | pursuant to court order without
disclosing that prior | 26 | | court proceedings are required.
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| 1 | | (17) Disclosing or threatening to disclose information | 2 | | adversely
affecting a debtor's reputation for credit | 3 | | worthiness with knowledge the
information is false.
| 4 | | (18) Threatening to initiate communication with a | 5 | | debtor's
employer unless there has been a default of the | 6 | | payment of the obligation
for at least 30 days and the | 7 | | licensee has given at least 5 days prior written notice of | 8 | | the intention to communicate with the
employer to the | 9 | | employee to the last known address of the debtor.
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(19) Communicating with the debtor or any member of | 11 | | the debtor's family
at such a time of day or night and with | 12 | | such frequency as to constitute
harassment of the debtor | 13 | | or any member of the debtor's family. For
purposes of this | 14 | | Section the following conduct shall constitute harassment:
| 15 | | (A) Communicating with the debtor or any member of | 16 | | his or her family
in connection with the collection of | 17 | | any debt without the prior consent of the
debtor given | 18 | | directly to the debt collector, or the express | 19 | | permission of a
court of competent jurisdiction, at | 20 | | any unusual time or place or a time or
place known or | 21 | | which should be known to be inconvenient to the | 22 | | debtor. In
the absence of knowledge of circumstances | 23 | | to the contrary, a debt collector
shall assume that | 24 | | the convenient time for communicating with a consumer | 25 | | is
after 8 o'clock a.m. and before 9 o'clock p.m. in | 26 | | the debtor's local time.
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| 1 | | (B) The threat of publication or publication of a | 2 | | list of consumers who
allegedly refuse to pay debts, | 3 | | except to a consumer reporting agency.
| 4 | | (C) The threat of advertisement or advertisement | 5 | | for sale of any debt to
coerce payment of the debt.
| 6 | | (D) Causing a telephone to ring or engaging any | 7 | | person in telephone
conversation repeatedly or | 8 | | continuously with intent to annoy, abuse, or
harass | 9 | | any person at the called number.
| 10 | | (20) Using profane, obscene or abusive language in | 11 | | communicating with a
debtor, his or her family or others.
| 12 | | (21) Disclosing or threatening to disclose information | 13 | | relating to a
debtor's debt to any other person except | 14 | | where such other person has
a legitimate business need for | 15 | | the information or except where such
disclosure is | 16 | | permitted by law.
| 17 | | (22) Disclosing or threatening to disclose information | 18 | | concerning the
existence of a debt which the collection | 19 | | agency knows to be
disputed by the debtor without | 20 | | disclosing the fact that the debtor
disputes the debt.
| 21 | | (23) Engaging in any conduct that is intended to
cause | 22 | | and did cause mental or physical illness to the debtor or | 23 | | his
or her
family.
| 24 | | (24) Attempting or threatening to enforce a right or | 25 | | remedy with
knowledge or reason to know that the right or | 26 | | remedy does not exist.
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| 1 | | (25) Failing to disclose to the debtor or his or her | 2 | | family the legally authorized
corporate, partnership or | 3 | | proprietary name, or other trade or business name,
under
| 4 | | which the collection agency is engaging in debt | 5 | | collections.
| 6 | | (26) Using any form of communication which simulates | 7 | | legal or judicial
process or which gives the appearance of | 8 | | being authorized, issued, or
approved by a governmental | 9 | | agency or official or by an attorney at law
when it is not.
| 10 | | (27) Using any badge, uniform, or other indicia of any | 11 | | governmental
agency or official except as authorized by | 12 | | law.
| 13 | | (28) Conducting business under any name or in any | 14 | | manner which suggests
or implies that the collection | 15 | | agency is a
branch of or is affiliated in any way with a | 16 | | governmental agency or court if such
collection agency is | 17 | | not.
| 18 | | (29) Failing to disclose, at the time of making any | 19 | | demand for payment,
the name of the person to whom the debt | 20 | | is owed and at the request of the
debtor, the address where | 21 | | payment is to be made and the address of the
person to whom | 22 | | the debt is owed.
| 23 | | (30) Misrepresenting the amount of the debt alleged to | 24 | | be owed.
| 25 | | (31) Representing that an existing debt may be | 26 | | increased by the addition
of attorney's fees, |
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| 1 | | investigation fees or any other fees or charges when
such | 2 | | fees or charges may not legally be added to the existing | 3 | | debt.
| 4 | | (32) Representing that the collection agency is an | 5 | | attorney at law or an
agent for an attorney if he or she is | 6 | | not.
| 7 | | (33) Collecting or attempting to collect any interest | 8 | | or other charge or
fee in excess of the actual debt unless | 9 | | such interest or other
charge or fee is expressly | 10 | | authorized by the agreement creating the debt unless | 11 | | expressly authorized by law or unless in a commercial
| 12 | | transaction such interest or other charge or fee is | 13 | | expressly authorized in
a subsequent agreement. Nothing in | 14 | | this paragraph (33) shall prevent a debtor from choosing | 15 | | to make a payment that includes a transaction fee paid by | 16 | | the debtor if (i) the transaction fee does not exceed 3% of | 17 | | the amount of the payment or $4.95 for the transaction, | 18 | | whichever is less, (ii) an option to make the payment at no | 19 | | cost to the debtor is disclosed and offered to the debtor, | 20 | | (iii) the transaction fee is paid on a credit card or debit | 21 | | card transaction and the fee is processed by an entity | 22 | | that is independent and not affiliated with the collection | 23 | | agency, and (iv) the transaction fee paid by the debtor is | 24 | | remitted to the entity that processes the debtor's payment | 25 | | and not to the collection agency. If a contingency or | 26 | | hourly fee arrangement (i) is
established under an |
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| 1 | | agreement between a collection agency and a creditor to
| 2 | | collect a debt and (ii) is paid by a debtor pursuant to a | 3 | | contract between the
debtor and the creditor, then that | 4 | | fee arrangement does not violate this
Section unless the | 5 | | fee is unreasonable. The Department shall determine what
| 6 | | constitutes a reasonable collection fee.
| 7 | | (34) Communicating or threatening to communicate with | 8 | | a debtor when the
collection agency is informed in writing | 9 | | by an attorney that the attorney
represents the debtor | 10 | | concerning the debt. If the attorney fails to respond | 11 | | within a reasonable period of
time, the collector may | 12 | | communicate with the debtor. The collector may
communicate | 13 | | with the debtor when the attorney gives his or her | 14 | | consent.
| 15 | | (35) Engaging in dishonorable, unethical, or | 16 | | unprofessional conduct of a
character likely to deceive, | 17 | | defraud, or harm the public.
| 18 | | (b) No collection agency while collecting or attempting to | 19 | | collect a debt shall
engage in any of the Acts specified in | 20 | | this Section, each of which shall
be unlawful practice.
| 21 | | (Source: P.A. 102-975, eff. 1-1-23 .)
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