Full Text of HB1177 94th General Assembly
HB1177enr 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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HB1177 Enrolled |
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LRB094 05055 RAS 35091 b |
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| AN ACT concerning regulation.
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 5. The Regulatory Sunset Act is amended by changing | 5 |
| Section 4.16 and by adding Section 4.26 as follows:
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| (5 ILCS 80/4.16)
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| Sec. 4.16. Acts repealed January 1, 2006. The following | 8 |
| Acts are repealed January 1, 2006:
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| The Respiratory Care Practice Act.
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| The Hearing Instrument Consumer Protection Act.
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| The Illinois Dental Practice Act.
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| The Professional Geologist Licensing Act.
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| The Illinois Athletic Trainers Practice Act.
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| The Barber, Cosmetology, Esthetics, and Nail Technology | 15 |
| Act of 1985.
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| The Collection Agency Act.
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| The Illinois Roofing Industry Licensing Act.
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| The Illinois Physical Therapy Act.
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| (Source: P.A. 89-33, eff. 1-1-96; 89-72, eff. 12-31-95; 89-80, | 20 |
| eff. 6-30-95;
89-116, eff. 7-7-95; 89-366, eff. 7-1-96; 89-387, | 21 |
| eff. 8-20-95; 89-626, eff.
8-9-96.)
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| (5 ILCS 80/4.26 new)
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| Sec. 4.26. Act repealed on January 1, 2016. The following | 24 |
| Act is repealed on January 1, 2016: | 25 |
| The Collection Agency Act.
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| Section 10. The Collection Agency Act is amended by | 27 |
| changing Sections 2.02, 2.04, 3, 4.5, 5, 6a, and 9 as follows:
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| (225 ILCS 425/2.02) (from Ch. 111, par. 2004)
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| (Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2006)
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| Sec. 2.02. "Collection agency" or "agency" means any | 2 |
| person, association,
partnership, or corporation , or legal | 3 |
| entity who, for compensation, either contingent or
otherwise, | 4 |
| or for other valuable consideration, offers services to collect
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| an alleged delinquent debt.
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| (Source: P.A. 89-387, eff. 1-1-96.)
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| (225 ILCS 425/2.04) (from Ch. 111, par. 2005.1)
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| (Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2006)
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| Sec. 2.04. Child support indebtedness.
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| (a) Persons, associations, partnerships, or corporations , | 11 |
| or other legal entities engaged in the
business of collecting | 12 |
| child support indebtedness owing under a court order
as | 13 |
| provided under the Illinois Public Aid Code, the Illinois | 14 |
| Marriage and
Dissolution of Marriage Act, the Non-Support of | 15 |
| Spouse and Children Act,
the Non-Support Punishment Act, the | 16 |
| Illinois Parentage Act of 1984, or
similar laws of other states
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| are not
restricted (i) in the frequency of contact with an | 18 |
| obligor who is in arrears,
whether by phone, mail, or other | 19 |
| means, (ii) from contacting the employer of an
obligor who is | 20 |
| in arrears, (iii) from publishing or threatening to publish a
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| list of obligors in arrears, (iv) from disclosing or | 22 |
| threatening to disclose an
arrearage that the obligor disputes, | 23 |
| but for which a verified notice of
delinquency has been served | 24 |
| under the Income Withholding for Support Act (or
any of its | 25 |
| predecessors, Section 10-16.2 of the Illinois Public Aid
Code, | 26 |
| Section 706.1 of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of | 27 |
| Marriage Act,
Section 4.1 of the Non-Support of Spouse and | 28 |
| Children Act, Section 26.1 of the
Revised Uniform Reciprocal | 29 |
| Enforcement of Support Act, or Section 20 of the
Illinois | 30 |
| Parentage Act of 1984), or (v) from engaging in conduct that | 31 |
| would
not
cause a reasonable person mental or physical illness. | 32 |
| For purposes of this
subsection, "obligor" means an individual | 33 |
| who owes a duty to make periodic
payments, under a court order, | 34 |
| for the support of a child. "Arrearage" means
the total amount | 35 |
| of an obligor's unpaid child support obligations.
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| (a-5) A collection agency may not impose a fee or charge, | 2 |
| including costs, for any child support payments collected | 3 |
| through the efforts of a federal, State, or local government | 4 |
| agency, including but not limited to child support collected | 5 |
| from federal or State tax refunds, unemployment benefits, or | 6 |
| Social Security benefits. | 7 |
| No collection agency that collects child support payments | 8 |
| shall (i) impose a charge or fee, including costs, for | 9 |
| collection of a current child support payment, (ii) fail to | 10 |
| apply collections to current support as specified in the order | 11 |
| for support before applying collection to arrears or other | 12 |
| amounts, or (iii) designate a current child support payment as | 13 |
| arrears or other amount owed. In all circumstances, the | 14 |
| collection agency shall turn over to the obligee all support | 15 |
| collected in a month up to the amount of current support | 16 |
| required to be paid for that month. | 17 |
| As to any fees or charges, including costs, retained by the | 18 |
| collection agency, that agency shall provide documentation to | 19 |
| the obligee demonstrating that the child support payments | 20 |
| resulted from the actions of the agency. | 21 |
| After collection of the total amount or arrearage, | 22 |
| including statutory interest, due as of the date of execution | 23 |
| of the collection contract, no further fees may be charged. | 24 |
| (a-10) The Department of Professional Regulation shall | 25 |
| determine a fee rate of not less than 25% but not greater than | 26 |
| 35%, based upon presentation by the licensees as to costs to | 27 |
| provide the service and a fair rate of return. This rate shall | 28 |
| be established by administrative rule.
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| Without prejudice to the determination by the Department of | 30 |
| the appropriate rate through administrative rule, a collection | 31 |
| agency shall impose a fee of not more than 29% of the amount of | 32 |
| child support actually collected by the collection agency | 33 |
| subject to the provisions of subsection (a-5). This interim | 34 |
| rate is based upon the March 2002 General Account Office report | 35 |
| "Child Support Enforcement", GAO-02-349. This rate shall apply | 36 |
| until a fee rate is established by administrative rule.
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| (b) The Department shall adopt rules necessary to | 2 |
| administer and enforce
the provisions of this Section.
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| (Source: P.A. 93-896, eff. 8-10-04.)
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| (225 ILCS 425/3) (from Ch. 111, par. 2006)
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| (Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2006)
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| Sec. 3. A person, association, partnership ,
or
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| corporation , or other legal entity acts as a
collection agency | 8 |
| when he or it:
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| (a) Engages in the business of collection for others of any | 10 |
| account, bill
or other indebtedness;
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| (b) Receives, by assignment or otherwise, accounts, bills, | 12 |
| or other
indebtedness from any person owning or controlling 20% | 13 |
| or more of the
business receiving the assignment, with the | 14 |
| purpose of collecting monies
due on such account, bill or other | 15 |
| indebtedness;
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| (c) Sells or attempts to sell, or gives away or attempts to | 17 |
| give away
to any other person, other than one registered under | 18 |
| this Act, any system of
collection, letters, demand forms, or | 19 |
| other printed matter where the name
of any person, other than | 20 |
| that of the creditor, appears in such a manner
as to indicate, | 21 |
| directly or indirectly, that a request or demand is being
made | 22 |
| by any person other than the creditor for the payment of the | 23 |
| sum or
sums due or asserted to be due;
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| (d) Buys accounts, bills or other indebtedness
with | 25 |
| recourse and engages in collecting the same; or
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| (e) Uses a fictitious name in collecting its own accounts, | 27 |
| bills, or debts
with the intention of conveying to the debtor | 28 |
| that a third party has been
employed to make such collection.
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| (Source: P.A. 83-1539.)
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| (225 ILCS 425/4.5)
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| (Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2006)
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| Sec. 4.5. Unlicensed practice; violation; civil penalty.
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| (a) Any person who practices, offers to practice, attempts | 34 |
| to practice, or
holds oneself out to practice as a collection |
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| agency without being licensed
under this Act shall, in
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| to any other penalty provided by law, pay a civil penalty to | 3 |
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Department in an amount not to exceed $5,000 for each | 4 |
| offense as determined by
the Department. The civil penalty | 5 |
| shall be assessed by the Department after a
hearing is held in | 6 |
| accordance with the provisions set forth in this Act
regarding | 7 |
| the provision of a hearing for the discipline of a licensee.
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| (b) The Department has the authority and power to | 9 |
| investigate any and all
unlicensed activity. In addition to | 10 |
| taking any other action provided under this Act, whenever the | 11 |
| Department has reason to believe a person, association, | 12 |
| partnership, corporation, or other legal entity has violated | 13 |
| any provision of subsection (a) of this Section, the Department | 14 |
| may issue a rule to show cause why an order to cease and desist | 15 |
| should not be entered against that person, association, | 16 |
| partnership, corporation, or other legal entity. The rule shall | 17 |
| clearly set forth the grounds relied upon by the Department and | 18 |
| shall provide a period of 7 days from the date of the rule to | 19 |
| file an answer to the satisfaction of the Department. Failure | 20 |
| to answer to the satisfaction of the Department shall cause an | 21 |
| order to cease and desist to be issued immediately.
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| (c) The civil penalty shall be paid within 60 days after | 23 |
| the effective date
of the order imposing the civil penalty. The | 24 |
| order shall constitute a judgment
and may be filed and | 25 |
| execution had thereon in the same manner as any judgment
from | 26 |
| any court of record.
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| (Source: P.A. 89-474, eff. 6-18-96.)
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| (225 ILCS 425/5) (from Ch. 111, par. 2008)
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| (Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2006)
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| Sec. 5. Application for registration shall be made to the | 31 |
| Director on
forms provided by the Department, shall be | 32 |
| accompanied by the required fee
and shall state:
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| (1) The applicant's name and address;
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| (2) the names and addresses of the officers of the | 35 |
| collection agency
and, if the collection agency is a |
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| corporation, the names and addresses
of all persons owning 10% | 2 |
| or more of the stock of such corporation , if the collection | 3 |
| agency is a partnership, the names and addresses of all | 4 |
| partners of the partnership holding a 10% or more interest in | 5 |
| the partnership, and, if the collection agency is a limited | 6 |
| liability company, the names and addresses of all members | 7 |
| holding 10% or more interest in the limited liability company ; | 8 |
| and
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| (3) Such other information as the Department may deem | 10 |
| necessary.
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| (Source: P.A. 81-1381.)
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| (225 ILCS 425/6a) (from Ch. 111, par. 2009a)
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| (Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2006)
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| Sec. 6a. Any registered collection agency whose | 15 |
| certificate of
registration has expired may have the | 16 |
| certificate of registration restored
by making application to | 17 |
| the Department and filing proof acceptable to the
Department of | 18 |
| fitness to have the certificate of registration restored, and
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| by paying the required restoration fee.
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| However, any registered collection agency whose | 21 |
| certificate of
registration has expired while the individual | 22 |
| registered or while a
shareholder , partner, or member owning | 23 |
| 50% or more of the shares of stock in a registered
corporation | 24 |
| has expired while he has been engaged (1) in federal service on
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| active duty with the Army of the United States, the United | 26 |
| States Navy, the
Marine Corps, the Air Force, the Coast Guard, | 27 |
| or the State Militia called
into the service or training of the | 28 |
| United States of America, or (2) in
training or education under | 29 |
| the supervision of the United States
preliminary to induction | 30 |
| into the military service, may have his
certificate of | 31 |
| registration restored or reinstated without paying any
lapsed | 32 |
| renewal fees, restoration fee or reinstatement fee if within 2 | 33 |
| years
after termination of such service, training or education | 34 |
| other than by
dishonorable discharge he furnishes the | 35 |
| Department with an affidavit to the
effect that he has been so |
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| engaged and that his service, training or
education has been so | 2 |
| terminated.
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| (Source: P.A. 84-1299.)
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| (225 ILCS 425/9) (from Ch. 111, par. 2012)
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| (Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2006)
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| Sec. 9. (a) The Department may refuse to issue or renew, or | 7 |
| may
revoke, suspend, place on probation, reprimand or take | 8 |
| other disciplinary
action as the Department may deem proper, | 9 |
| including fines not to exceed
$5,000 for a first violation and | 10 |
| not to exceed $10,000 for a second or subsequent violation
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| $1,000 per licensee per complaint , for any one or any | 12 |
| combination of the
following causes:
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| (1) Violations of this Act or of the rules promulgated | 14 |
| hereunder.
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| (2) Conviction of the collection agency or the | 16 |
| principals of the agency
of any crime under the laws of any | 17 |
| U.S. jurisdiction which is a felony, a
misdemeanor an | 18 |
| essential element of which is dishonesty, or of any crime
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| which directly relates to the practice of the profession.
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| (3) Making any misrepresentation for the purpose of | 21 |
| obtaining a license
or certificate.
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| (4) Habitual or excessive use or addiction to alcohol, | 23 |
| narcotics,
stimulants or any other chemical agent or drug | 24 |
| which results in the
inability to practice with reasonable | 25 |
| judgment, skill, or safety by any of
the principals of a | 26 |
| collection agency.
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| (5) Discipline by another U.S. jurisdiction or foreign | 28 |
| nation, if at
least one of the grounds for the discipline | 29 |
| is the same or substantially
equivalent to those set forth | 30 |
| in this Act.
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| (6) A finding by the Department that the licensee, | 32 |
| after having his
license placed on probationary status, has | 33 |
| violated the terms of probation.
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| (7) Practicing or attempting to practice under a name | 35 |
| other than the
name as shown on his or her license or any |
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| other legally authorized name.
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| (8) A finding by the Federal Trade Commission that a | 3 |
| licensee violated
the Federal Fair Debt and Collection Act | 4 |
| or its rules.
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| (9) Failure to file a return, or to pay the tax, | 6 |
| penalty or interest
shown in a filed return, or to pay any | 7 |
| final assessment of tax, penalty or
interest, as required | 8 |
| by any tax Act administered by the Illinois
Department of | 9 |
| Revenue until such time as the requirements of any such tax
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| Act are satisfied.
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| (10) Using or threatening to use force or violence to | 12 |
| cause physical
harm to a debtor, his family or his | 13 |
| property.
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| (11) Threatening to instigate an arrest or criminal | 15 |
| prosecution where no
basis for a criminal complaint | 16 |
| lawfully exists.
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| (12) Threatening the seizure, attachment or sale of a | 18 |
| debtor's property
where such action can only be taken | 19 |
| pursuant to court order without
disclosing that prior court | 20 |
| proceedings are required.
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| (13) Disclosing or threatening to disclose information | 22 |
| adversely
affecting a debtor's reputation for credit | 23 |
| worthiness with knowledge the
information is false.
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| (14) Initiating or threatening to initiate | 25 |
| communication with a debtor's
employer unless there has | 26 |
| been a default of the payment of the obligation
for at | 27 |
| least 30 days and at least 5 days prior written notice, to | 28 |
| the last
known address of the debtor, of the intention to | 29 |
| communicate with the
employer has been given to the | 30 |
| employee, except as expressly permitted by
law or court | 31 |
| order.
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| (15) Communicating with the debtor or any member of the | 33 |
| debtor's family
at such a time of day or night and with | 34 |
| such frequency as to constitute
harassment of the debtor or | 35 |
| any member of the debtor's family. For
purposes of this | 36 |
| Section the following conduct shall constitute harassment:
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| (A) Communicating with the debtor or any member of | 2 |
| his or her family
in connection with the collection of | 3 |
| any debt without the prior consent of the
debtor given | 4 |
| directly to the debt collector, or the express | 5 |
| permission of a
court of competent jurisdiction, at any | 6 |
| unusual time or place or a time or
place known or which | 7 |
| should be known to be inconvenient to the debtor. In
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| the absence of knowledge of circumstances to the | 9 |
| contrary, a debt collector
shall assume that the | 10 |
| convenient time for communicating with a consumer is
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| after 8 o'clock a.m. and before 9 o'clock p.m. local | 12 |
| time at the debtor's
location.
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| (B) The threat of publication or publication of a | 14 |
| list of consumers who
allegedly refuse to pay debts, | 15 |
| except to a consumer reporting agency.
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| (C) The threat of advertisement or advertisement | 17 |
| for sale of any debt to
coerce payment of the debt.
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| (D) Causing a telephone to ring or engaging any | 19 |
| person in telephone
conversation repeatedly or | 20 |
| continuously with intent to annoy, abuse, or
harass any | 21 |
| person at the called number.
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| (16) Using profane, obscene or abusive language in | 23 |
| communicating with a
debtor, his or her family or others.
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| (17) Disclosing or threatening to disclose information | 25 |
| relating to a
debtor's indebtedness to any other person | 26 |
| except where such other person has
a legitimate business | 27 |
| need for the information or except where such
disclosure is | 28 |
| regulated by law.
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| (18) Disclosing or threatening to disclose information | 30 |
| concerning the
existence of a debt which the debt collector | 31 |
| knows to be reasonably
disputed by the debtor without | 32 |
| disclosing the fact that the debtor
disputes the debt.
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| (19) Engaging in any conduct which the Director finds | 34 |
| was intended to
cause and did cause mental or physical | 35 |
| illness to the debtor or his
or her
family.
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| (20) Attempting or threatening to enforce a right or |
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| remedy with
knowledge or reason to know that the right or | 2 |
| remedy does not exist.
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| (21) Failing to disclose to the debtor or his or her | 4 |
| family the
corporate, partnership or proprietary name, or | 5 |
| other trade or business name,
under
which the debt | 6 |
| collector is engaging in debt collections and which he or
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| she is legally authorized to use.
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| (22) Using any form of communication which simulates | 9 |
| legal or judicial
process or which gives the appearance of | 10 |
| being authorized, issued or
approved by a governmental | 11 |
| agency or official or by an attorney at law
when it is not.
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| (23) Using any badge, uniform, or other indicia of any | 13 |
| governmental
agency or official except as authorized by | 14 |
| law.
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| (24) Conducting business under any name or in any | 16 |
| manner which suggests
or implies that a debt collector is | 17 |
| bonded if such collector is or is a
branch of or is | 18 |
| affiliated with any governmental agency or court if such
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| collector is not.
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| (25) Failing to disclose, at the time of making any | 21 |
| demand for payment,
the name of the person to whom the | 22 |
| claim is owed and at the request of the
debtor, the address | 23 |
| where payment is to be made and the address of the
person | 24 |
| to whom the claim is owed.
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| (26) Misrepresenting the amount of the claim or debt | 26 |
| alleged to be owed.
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| (27) Representing that an existing debt may be | 28 |
| increased by the addition
of attorney's fees, | 29 |
| investigation fees or any other fees or charges when
such | 30 |
| fees or charges may not legally be added to the existing | 31 |
| debt.
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| (28) Representing that the debt collector is an | 33 |
| attorney at law or an
agent for an attorney if he is not.
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| (29) Collecting or attempting to collect any interest | 35 |
| or other charge or
fee in excess of the actual debt or | 36 |
| claim unless such interest or other
charge or fee is |
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| expressly authorized by the agreement creating the debt or
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| claim unless expressly authorized by law or unless in a | 3 |
| commercial
transaction such interest or other charge or fee | 4 |
| is expressly authorized in
a subsequent agreement. If a | 5 |
| contingency or hourly fee arrangement (i) is
established | 6 |
| under an agreement between a collection agency and a | 7 |
| creditor to
collect a debt and (ii) is paid by a debtor | 8 |
| pursuant to a contract between the
debtor and the creditor, | 9 |
| then that fee arrangement does not violate this
Section | 10 |
| unless the fee is unreasonable. The Department shall | 11 |
| determine what
constitutes a reasonable collection fee.
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| (30) Communicating or threatening to communicate with | 13 |
| a debtor when the
debt collector is informed in writing by | 14 |
| an attorney that the attorney
represents the debtor | 15 |
| concerning the claim, unless authorized by the
attorney. If | 16 |
| the attorney fails to respond within a reasonable period of
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| time, the collector may communicate with the debtor. The | 18 |
| collector may
communicate with the debtor when the attorney | 19 |
| gives his consent.
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| (31) Engaging in dishonorable, unethical, or | 21 |
| unprofessional conduct of a
character likely to deceive, | 22 |
| defraud, or harm the public.
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| (b) The Department shall deny any license or renewal | 24 |
| authorized by this
Act to any person who has defaulted on an | 25 |
| educational loan guaranteed by
the Illinois State Scholarship | 26 |
| Commission; however, the Department may
issue a license or | 27 |
| renewal if the person in default has established a
satisfactory | 28 |
| repayment record as determined by the Illinois State
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| Scholarship Commission.
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| No debt collector while collecting or attempting to collect | 31 |
| a debt shall
engage in any of the Acts specified in this | 32 |
| Section, each of which shall
be unlawful practice.
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| (Source: P.A. 91-768, eff. 1-1-01.)
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| Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect December | 35 |
| 31, 2005.
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