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1    AN ACT concerning government.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Collection Agency Act is amended by changing
5Sections 2, 9.1, 9.2, and 9.3 and by adding Section 60 as
6follows:
 
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8    (Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2026)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
11by the Department in the applicant's or licensee's application
12file or license file as maintained by the Department's
13licensure maintenance unit. It is the duty of the applicant or
14licensee to inform the Department of any change of address and
15those changes must be made either through the Department's
16website or by contacting the Department.
17    "Board" means the Collection Agency Licensing and
18Disciplinary Board.
19    "Charge-off balance" means an account principal and other
20legally collectible costs, expenses, and interest accrued
21prior to the charge-off date, less any payments or settlement.
22    "Charge-off date" means the date on which a receivable is
23treated as a loss or expense.

 

 

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1    "Collection agency" means any person who, in the ordinary
2course of business, regularly, on behalf of himself or herself
3or others, engages in the collection of a debt.
4    "Consumer debt" or "consumer credit" means money or
5property, or their equivalent, due or owing or alleged to be
6due or owing from a natural person by reason of a consumer
7credit transaction.
8    "Credit transaction" means a transaction between a natural
9person and another person in which property, service, or money
10is acquired on credit by that natural person from such other
11person primarily for personal, family, or household purposes.
12    "Creditor" means a person who extends consumer credit to a
13debtor.
14    "Current balance" means the charge-off balance plus any
15legally collectible costs, expenses, and interest, less any
16credits or payments.
17    "Debt" means money, property, or their equivalent which is
18due or owing or alleged to be due or owing from a person to
19another person.
20    "Debt buyer" means a person or entity that is engaged in
21the business of purchasing delinquent or charged-off consumer
22loans or consumer credit accounts or other delinquent consumer
23debt for collection purposes, whether it collects the debt
24itself or hires a third-party for collection or an
25attorney-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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1to collect a consumer or commercial debt that is due and owing
2or alleged to be due and owing from such person.
3    "Department" means the Department of Financial and
4Professional Regulation.
5    "Person" means a natural person, partnership, corporation,
6limited liability company, trust, estate, cooperative,
7association, or other similar entity.
8    "Licensed collection agency" means a person who is licensed
9under this Act to engage in the practice of debt collection in
10Illinois.
11    "Secretary" means the Secretary of Financial and
12Professional 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
17collection agency communicating with any person other than the
18debtor for the purpose of acquiring location information about
19the 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
20only 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
25collection.

 

 

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1    (a) Without the prior consent of the debtor given directly
2to the collection agency or the express permission of a court
3of competent jurisdiction, a collection agency may not
4communicate with a debtor in connection with the collection of
5any 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
24the prior consent of the debtor given directly to the
25collection agency, the express permission of a court of
26competent jurisdiction, or as reasonably necessary to

 

 

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1effectuate a post judgment judicial remedy, a collection agency
2may not communicate, in connection with the collection of any
3debt, with any person other than the debtor, the debtor's
4attorney, a consumer reporting agency if otherwise permitted by
5law, the creditor, the attorney of the creditor, or the
6attorney of the collection agency.
7    (c) If a debtor notifies a collection agency in writing
8that the debtor refuses to pay a debt or that the debtor wishes
9the collection agency to cease further communication with the
10debtor, the collection agency may not communicate further with
11the debtor with respect to such debt, except to perform any of
12the 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,
21notification shall be complete upon receipt.
22    (d) For the purposes of this Section, "debtor" includes the
23debtor's spouse, parent (if the debtor is a minor), guardian,
24executor, or administrator.
25    (e) This Section applies to a collection agency or debt
26buyer 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
6debtor in connection with the collection of any debt, a
7collection agency shall, unless the following information is
8contained in the initial communication or the debtor has paid
9the debt, send the debtor a written notice with each of the
10following 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
7within the 30-day period set forth in paragraph (3) of
8subsection (a) of this Section that the debt, or any portion
9thereof, is disputed or that the debtor requests the name and
10address of the original creditor, the collection agency shall
11cease collection of the debt, or any disputed portion thereof,
12until the collection agency obtains verification of the debt or
13a copy of a judgment or the name and address of the original
14creditor and mails a copy of the verification or judgment or
15name and address of the original creditor to the debtor.
16    (c) The failure of a debtor to dispute the validity of a
17debt under this Section shall not be construed by any court as
18an admission of liability by the debtor.
19    (d) This Section applies to a collection agency or debt
20buyer 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
24agency or a debt buyer shall not be subject to civil liability
25for its failure to comply with Section 2, 9.1, 9.2, or 9.3 of

 

 

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1this Act, as amended by Public Act 99-227, if the collection
2agency or the debt buyer can demonstrate compliance with
3comparable provisions of the federal Fair Debt Collection
4Practices Act.
 
5    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
6becoming law.