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    (Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2026)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.