Rep. Lou Lang

Filed: 2/24/2012

 

 


 

 


 
09700HB5016ham001LRB097 18247 CEL 66450 a

1
AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 5016

2    AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 5016 by replacing
3everything after the enacting clause with the following:
 
4    "Section 5. The Collection Agency Act is amended by
5changing Section 2 and by adding Section 8.5 and 8.6 as
6follows:
 
7    (225 ILCS 425/2)  (from Ch. 111, par. 2002)
8    (Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2016)
9    Sec. 2. Definitions. In this Act:
10    "Charge-off date" means the date on which a receivable is
11treated as a loss or expense.
12    "Consumer credit transaction" means a transaction between
13a natural person and another person in which property, service,
14or money is acquired on credit by that natural person from such
15other person primarily for personal, family, or household
16purposes.

 

 

09700HB5016ham001- 2 -LRB097 18247 CEL 66450 a

1    "Consumer debt" or "consumer credit" means money,
2property, or their equivalent, due or owing or alleged to be
3due or owing from a natural person by reason of a consumer
4credit transaction.
5    "Creditor" means a person who extends consumer credit to a
6debtor.
7    "Debt" means money, property, or their equivalent which is
8due or owing or alleged to be due or owing from a natural
9person to another person.
10    "Debt buyer" means any person engaging in, or holding
11itself out as engaging in, the business of purchasing accounts
12for value and acquiring all rights in and ownership of a debt.
13    "Debt collection" means any act or practice in connection
14with the collection of consumer debts.
15    "Debt collector", "collection agency", or "agency" means
16any person who, in the ordinary course of business, regularly,
17on behalf of himself or herself or others, engages in debt
18collection.
19    "Debtor" means a natural person from whom a debt collector
20seeks to collect a consumer debt that is due and owing or
21alleged to be due and owing from such person.
22    "Department" means Division of Professional Regulation
23within the Department of Financial and Professional
24Regulation.
25    "Director" means the Director of the Division of
26Professional Regulation within the Department of Financial and

 

 

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1Professional Regulation.
2    "Person" means a natural person, partnership, corporation,
3limited liability company, trust, estate, cooperative,
4association, or other similar entity.
5    "Principal balance" or "charge-off balance" means an
6account principal and other legally collectible costs,
7expenses, and interest that are accrued prior to the charge-off
8date, less any payments or settlement.
9(Source: P.A. 95-437, eff. 1-1-08.)
 
10    (225 ILCS 425/8.5 new)
11    Sec. 8.5. Debt buyers. A debt buyer shall be subject to all
12of the terms, conditions, and requirements of this Act, except
13for subsection (b) of Section 8.6 of this Act.
 
14    (225 ILCS 425/8.6 new)
15    Sec. 8.6. Debt buyer activities.
16    (a) The provisions of this Section 8.6 shall apply to debt
17buyers. If a debt buyer commences litigation against a debtor,
18then the debt buyer shall attach to the complaint an affidavit
19in substantially the following form:
 
20    
"[CAPTION OF COURT PROCEEDING]
21    
AFFIDAVIT OF ACCOUNT OWNERSHIP

 
22        I,................, being first duly sworn upon my

 

 

09700HB5016ham001- 4 -LRB097 18247 CEL 66450 a

1    oath, depose and state as follows:
 
2        1. I am an authorized agent of................., the
3    plaintiff in this case and a debt buyer as defined in
4    Section 2 of the Collection Agency Act ("debt buyer").
5        2. I am authorized to execute this affidavit on behalf
6    of the debt buyer, and I am over the age of 18 and
7    competent to testify as to the matters contained herein.
8        3. In my capacity as an authorized agent of the debt
9    buyer, I have access to the records maintained in the
10    ordinary course of business of the debt buyer, including
11    the records for and relating to the subject account. Those
12    records include records acquired by the debt buyer at the
13    time it purchased the account from the transferor, and
14    records generated by the debt buyer relating to the account
15    since the time it was purchased. I have reviewed or caused
16    to be reviewed those records relating to the account, and I
17    make this affidavit based upon that review and my own
18    personal knowledge of how the records are kept and
19    maintained. The account records generated by the debt buyer
20    are made at or near the time of the event, by or from
21    information transmitted by a person with knowledge of such
22    information. It is the regular practice of the debt buyer
23    to keep such records in the ordinary course of its
24    regularly conducted business activity.
25        4. The debt buyer owns the account that is the subject

 

 

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1    of the pending collection action.
2        5. On the date of the signature of this affidavit, this
3    account was within the applicable statutory period of
4    limitations.
5        6. The records of the debt buyer reflect that [debtor
6    name(s)], defendant in this case, was issued credit by
7    [creditor name], with an account number of [redacted
8    original account number] and that [credit name],
9    [charge-off date]. The last payment, if any, received on
10    the debtor's account was on [last payment date]. There is a
11    balance due and owing to the debt buyer on this account in
12    the amount of [charge-off balance due] less any post
13    charge-off credits, and the debt buyer has not received
14    payment of that balance due.
 
15    
Further affiant sayeth naught.
16    
..............................
17    
(Signature of Affiant)
18    
Print Name:...................
19    
Print Title:..................
20    
Debt Buyer:...................
21    SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN TO
22    Before me, this.....day of .............,......
 
23    ...............................................
24    Notary Public".
 

 

 

09700HB5016ham001- 6 -LRB097 18247 CEL 66450 a

1    (b) With respect to its activities as a debt buyer in
2pursuing the collection of accounts it owns, a debt buyer shall
3be subject to all of the terms, conditions, and requirements of
4this Act, except that a debt buyer shall not be required to (i)
5file and maintain in force a surety bond under Section 8 of
6this Act; (ii) maintain a trust account under Section 8c of
7this Act; (iii) procure written authorization to refer the
8account to an attorney for suit under Section 8a-1 of this Act;
9or (iv) adhere to the assignment for collection criteria under
10Section 8b of this Act.
11    (c) The Attorney General may enforce against debt buyers
12the provisions identified in Section 9.7 of this Act as an
13unlawful practice under the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive
14Business Practices Act.
 
15    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect January
161, 2013.".