Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of Public Act 099-0500
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Public Act 099-0500


 

Public Act 0500 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

  
  
  

 


 
Public Act 099-0500
 
SB1369 EnrolledLRB099 07723 MLM 27856 b

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    (Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2026)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

Effective Date: 1/29/2016