Full Text of SB2804 99th General Assembly
SB2804eng 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning civil law.
| 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
| 3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
| 4 | | Section 5. The Illinois Wage Assignment Act is amended by | 5 | | changing Sections 2, 2.1, 2.2, 4.1, and 4.2 as follows:
| 6 | | (740 ILCS 170/2) (from Ch. 48, par. 39.2)
| 7 | | Sec. 2.
Demand on an employer for the wages of wage-earner | 8 | | by virtue of a
wage assignment may not be served on the | 9 | | employer unless:
| 10 | | (1) There has been a default of more than 40 days in | 11 | | payment of the
indebtedness secured by the assignment and | 12 | | the default has continued to the
date of the demand;
| 13 | | (2) The demand contains a correct statement as to the | 14 | | amount the
wage-earner is in default and the original or a | 15 | | photostatic copy of the
assignment is exhibited to the | 16 | | employer; and
| 17 | | (3) Not less than 20 days before serving the demand, | 18 | | notice required under Section 2.2 a notice of
intention to | 19 | | make the demand has been served upon the employee, and an
| 20 | | advice copy sent to the employer, by 2 methods: (i) first | 21 | | class mail; and (ii) registered or certified mail.
| 22 | | Service of any demand without complying with this Section | 23 | | has no legal
effect. Proof of certified mail is prima facie |
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| 1 | | evidence of service.
| 2 | | A demand under this Section applies only to wages due at | 3 | | the time of
service of the demand and upon subsequent wages | 4 | | until the total amount due
under the assignment is paid , or, if | 5 | | the wage assignment is revocable under federal law, until the | 6 | | employee revokes it or until the expiration of the employer's
| 7 | | payroll period ending immediately prior to 84 days after | 8 | | service of
such demand, whichever first occurs .
| 9 | | (Source: P.A. 88-395.)
| 10 | | (740 ILCS 170/2.1) (from Ch. 48, par. 39.2a)
| 11 | | Sec. 2.1. A demand shall be in the following form:
| 12 | | "Demand is hereby made upon an assignment of salary, wages, | 13 | | commissions
or other compensation for services, executed by | 14 | | .... and delivered to ....
on (insert date), to secure a debt
| 15 | | contracted on (insert date).
| 16 | | The total amount of the debt is $..... Payments in the | 17 | | amount of $....
have been made. The duration of the contract is | 18 | | .... months. There is now
due and owing without acceleration | 19 | | the sum of $...., the last payment
having been made on (insert | 20 | | date).
| 21 | | The employee herein named has been in default in his | 22 | | payments in the
amount of $...., of which $.... has been due | 23 | | and owing for more than 40
days.
| 24 | | Unless you have received a written notice from the employee | 25 | | herein named revoking the wage assignment within the past 20 |
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| 1 | | days, or do receive within 5
days after the service hereof, a | 2 | | notice of defense from the employee herein
named , you are | 3 | | required by law to make payment in accordance with such
| 4 | | assignment. ...., first being duly sworn, deposes and says that | 5 | | the facts
stated in the demand above are true and correct; and | 6 | | further deposes and
says that he (or his principal, if he is an | 7 | | agent for the assignee) has not received notice from the debtor | 8 | | that he or she is revoking the wage assignment no
notice of any | 9 | | defenses of the debtor .
| 10 | | Payments must be made until the total amount due under the | 11 | | assignment is paid or until the employee revokes the wage | 12 | | assignment. | 13 | | ...........................
| 14 | | Subscribed and sworn to before me on (insert date).
| 15 | | ...........................
| 16 | | Notary Public".
| 17 | | (Source: P.A. 91-357, eff. 7-29-99.)
| 18 | | (740 ILCS 170/2.2) (from Ch. 48, par. 39.2b)
| 19 | | Sec. 2.2. Forms; notice of intent to assign wages; | 20 | | revocation. | 21 | | (a) The notice to an employee required by Section 2 shall | 22 | | be in the
following form:
| 23 | | "NOTICE OF INTENT TO ASSIGN WAGES
| 24 | | This notice is required by the Illinois Wage Assignment | 25 | | Act. The notice
has been sent to tell you that a creditor (name |
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| 1 | | and address listed below)
plans to have your wages assigned. A | 2 | | wage assignment is a document you signed at the time you signed | 3 | | the contract for your debt. It authorizes your creditor to | 4 | | receive a portion of your wages directly from your employer, in | 5 | | order to pay your debt. This notice contains important | 6 | | information about the debt and what your options are .
You | 7 | | should read the entire notice carefully.
| 8 | | WHY THE CREDITOR WANTS TO ASSIGN YOUR WAGES
| 9 | | You signed a wage assignment on ....... (date) .......
The | 10 | | wage assignment was signed as security if you failed to make | 11 | | payment
on the contract you signed on ......... (date) | 12 | | ..........
A copy of the wage assignment is attached. The | 13 | | creditor's records show
that you have not made a payment since | 14 | | ......... (date) ....... and that
you now owe $........ on the | 15 | | contract. The creditor will send
a demand for wages to your | 16 | | employer 20 days from the date you receive this.
| 17 | | WHAT YOU CAN DO TO PREVENT YOUR WAGES FROM BEING ASSIGNED
| 18 | | If you have a legal defense to the wage assignment you can | 19 | | stop the wage
assignment by filling out the enclosed Notice of | 20 | | Defense Form and (1) sending
it to the creditor by registered | 21 | | or certified mail and (2) giving a copy to
your employer. You | 22 | | must do those 2 things within 20 days of receiving this
notice. | 23 | | You have the right to contact an attorney concerning the wage | 24 | | assignment.
In the event a false defense is made, you will be | 25 | | subject to payment of
attorneys' fees, court costs and other | 26 | | expenses.
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| 1 | | The creditor's name , and address , and phone number are:
| 2 | | ......................
| 3 | | ......................
| 4 | | ......................
| 5 | | ......................
| 6 | | (Signed by)"
| 7 | | (b) If the wage assignment is revocable under federal law, | 8 | | the notice required under subsection (a) shall also include the | 9 | | following: | 10 | | UNDERSTANDING YOUR CHOICES UNDER THE | 11 | | ILLINOIS WAGE ASSIGNMENT ACT | 12 | | There are options available to you in this process. You | 13 | | should consider your options and determine the one that is best | 14 | | for you. You have the right to contact an attorney at any point | 15 | | concerning the wage assignment, or to help you determine your | 16 | | best option. | 17 | | Your options include: | 18 | | (1) You can stop the wage assignment at any time, which | 19 | | will stop your wages from being deducted. It will not | 20 | | eliminate your debt, and interest may continue to accrue. | 21 | | You may contact your creditor for more information about | 22 | | the interest rate on your contract, and to determine how | 23 | | much interest might accrue if you stop the wage assignment. | 24 | | Your creditor will still be able to pursue other means | 25 | | of collecting any debt you may owe, including filing a | 26 | | lawsuit against you for the full amount owed under the |
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| 1 | | contract and any interest that might accrue. A lawsuit | 2 | | might result in you owing legal fees and other costs. | 3 | | You can stop the wage assignment by filling out the | 4 | | enclosed Revocation Notice Form, or by writing a letter | 5 | | stating that you are revoking the wage assignment. Send the | 6 | | Revocation Notice Form or letter by registered or certified | 7 | | mail to the creditor, at the address listed above. It is | 8 | | highly recommended that you give a copy of the Revocation | 9 | | Notice Form or letter to your employer so your employer can | 10 | | stop any pending payments. | 11 | | If you choose to write a letter, it should be addressed | 12 | | to the creditor, and should include: | 13 | | (i) your name; | 14 | | (ii) the account number; and | 15 | | (iii) a statement that you are revoking the wage | 16 | | assignment, such as, "I am revoking the wage | 17 | | assignment." | 18 | | Even if the wage assignment has already begun, you can | 19 | | still stop it now or at any point in the future. | 20 | | (2) You can do nothing, and allow the wage assignment | 21 | | process to proceed. Starting in 20 days, part of your wages | 22 | | will be sent directly to the creditor to pay off your debt. | 23 | | This will reduce your take-home pay every pay period until | 24 | | the total amount of the debt is repaid. | 25 | | Up to 15% of your wages will be sent to the creditor | 26 | | every pay period. Once the total amount is repaid, the |
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| 1 | | creditor will send a notice to you and to your employer | 2 | | that includes the creditor's name, your name, and the | 3 | | account number, stating that the wage assignment is closed | 4 | | and no further wages should be assigned. | 5 | | (3) You can contact your creditor to repay the debt, or | 6 | | to explore other options, including a repayment plan or | 7 | | refinancing, if available. You can contact your creditor at | 8 | | the address and phone number listed above. | 9 | | If you agree on another repayment option with your | 10 | | creditor, the creditor will send a notice to your employer | 11 | | stating that your wages should not be assigned. | 12 | | (c) If the wage assignment is revocable under federal law, | 13 | | the notice required under subsection (b) shall be accompanied | 14 | | by the following Revocation Notice Form, with the relevant | 15 | | information inserted by the creditor: | 16 | | "REVOCATION NOTICE | 17 | | The employee's name and address are: | 18 | | ...................... | 19 | | ...................... | 20 | | ...................... | 21 | | ...................... | 22 | | The creditor's name and address are: | 23 | | ...................... | 24 | | ...................... | 25 | | ...................... | 26 | | ...................... |
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| 1 | | Re: (insert account number) | 2 | | I, (insert name), hereby revoke the wage assignment I | 3 | | signed on (insert date the wage assignment was signed). You no | 4 | | longer have my permission to use this wage assignment. | 5 | | ...................... ...................... | 6 | | (Signed by) (Date)" | 7 | | (Source: P.A. 83-867.)
| 8 | | (740 ILCS 170/4.1) (from Ch. 48, par. 39.4a)
| 9 | | Sec. 4.1. Revocation of wage assignment. If the wage | 10 | | assignment is revocable under federal law, the employee may | 11 | | revoke the wage assignment at any time by submitting the | 12 | | Revocation Notice Form as provided in subsection (c) of Section | 13 | | 2.2 of this Act or otherwise providing written notice of | 14 | | revocation to the creditor. Revocation is effective regardless | 15 | | of how the creditor receives it. Failure to use the sample | 16 | | language provided in the notice described in Section 2.2 does | 17 | | not affect the validity of the written notice of revocation. | 18 | | The employee may submit a copy of the notice to his or her | 19 | | employer. If the written notice of revocation is served upon | 20 | | the creditor prior to the creditor's service
of demand upon the | 21 | | employer, the demand shall not be served. Within 20 days after | 22 | | receiving the notice required by Section 2
or within 5 days | 23 | | after service of the demand, the employee may notify his
| 24 | | employer, in writing, of any defense he may have to the wage |
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| 1 | | assignment. A
copy of such notice shall be served upon the | 2 | | creditor by registered or
certified mail. If served upon the | 3 | | creditor prior to the creditor's service
of demand upon the | 4 | | employer, such demand shall not be served by the
creditor. The | 5 | | notice shall be by affidavit and shall be in substantially
the | 6 | | following form:
| 7 | | "I, ...., hereby (swear) (affirm) that I have a bona fide | 8 | | defense to the
claim of ...., which claim is based on a debt | 9 | | contracted on (insert date), and for security on which debt a | 10 | | wage
assignment was executed.
| 11 | | ..............................
| 12 | | Address for service of summons
| 13 | | ..............................
| 14 | | Employee
| 15 | | Subscribed and sworn to before me on (insert date).
| 16 | | ............................."
| 17 | | Notary Public
| 18 | | (Source: P.A. 91-357, eff. 7-29-99.)
| 19 | | (740 ILCS 170/4.2) (from Ch. 48, par. 39.4b)
| 20 | | Sec. 4.2.
| 21 | | If the employee has not served a Revocation Notice Form as | 22 | | provided in Section 4.1 of this Act or has not otherwise served | 23 | | the creditor with a written notice of revocation (if the wage | 24 | | assignment is revocable under federal law) given notice of | 25 | | defense as provided in this Act
within 20 days after receiving |
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| 1 | | the notice of intention to make a demand,
the creditor may | 2 | | proceed with his demand, and the employer shall commence
| 3 | | payment to the creditor not sooner than 5 business days after | 4 | | service of
such demand, if no revocation notice has been | 5 | | received by the employer unless a notice of defense is received | 6 | | within that 5 day
period . If the employee cures the default | 7 | | stated in the demand or revokes the wage assignment , the
| 8 | | creditor shall notify the employer and release the demand. No | 9 | | employer
shall be liable for payments made in compliance with | 10 | | this Section.
| 11 | | If a Revocation Notice Form as set forth in Section 4.1 of | 12 | | this Act or other written notice of revocation from the | 13 | | employee is received by an employer, If a notice of defense is | 14 | | received by an employer within the period
specified in Section | 15 | | 4.1, no wages are subject to a demand served by the
creditor | 16 | | for that wage assignment and the employer shall cease any | 17 | | deduction of wages currently taking place for that wage | 18 | | assignment, described in that notice of defense; unless the | 19 | | employer receives
a copy of a subsequent written agreement | 20 | | between the creditor and employee
authorizing such payments. If | 21 | | such an agreement is not reached, the
creditor may not | 22 | | institute further proceedings on the wage assignment. If a
| 23 | | notice of defense has been given, service of summons in any | 24 | | subsequent
proceeding on the debt for which the wage assignment | 25 | | was given as security
may be made by registered or certified | 26 | | mail.
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| 1 | | (Source: Laws 1967, p. 2049.)
| 2 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect January | 3 | | 1, 2017. |
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