Full Text of HB4393 93rd General Assembly
HB4393sam001 93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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Sen. Debbie DeFrancesco Halvorson
Filed: 5/6/2004
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LRB093 17919 AMC 50528 a |
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| AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 4393
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| AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 4393 by replacing | 3 |
| everything after the enacting clause with the following:
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| "Section 5. The Collection Agency Act is amended by | 5 |
| changing Section 2.04 as follows:
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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| (Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2006)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 | 10 |
| engaged in the
business of collecting child support | 11 |
| indebtedness owing under a court order
as provided under the | 12 |
| Illinois Public Aid Code, the Illinois Marriage and
Dissolution | 13 |
| of Marriage Act, the Non-Support of Spouse and Children Act,
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| the Non-Support Punishment Act, the Illinois Parentage Act of | 15 |
| 1984, or
similar laws of other states
are not
restricted (i) in | 16 |
| the frequency of contact with an obligor who is in arrears,
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| whether by phone, mail, or other means, (ii) from contacting | 18 |
| the employer of an
obligor who is in arrears, (iii) from | 19 |
| publishing or threatening to publish a
list of obligors in | 20 |
| arrears, (iv) from disclosing or threatening to disclose an
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| arrearage that the obligor disputes, but for which a verified | 22 |
| notice of
delinquency has been served under the Income | 23 |
| Withholding for Support Act (or
any of its predecessors, | 24 |
| Section 10-16.2 of the Illinois Public Aid
Code, Section 706.1 |
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| of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act,
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| Section 4.1 of the Non-Support of Spouse and Children Act, | 3 |
| Section 26.1 of the
Revised Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of | 4 |
| Support Act, or Section 20 of the
Illinois Parentage Act of | 5 |
| 1984), or (v) from engaging in conduct that would
not
cause a | 6 |
| reasonable person mental or physical illness. For purposes of | 7 |
| this
subsection, "obligor" means an individual who owes a duty | 8 |
| to make periodic
payments, under a court order, for the support | 9 |
| of a child. "Arrearage" means
the total amount of an obligor's | 10 |
| unpaid child support obligations.
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| (a-5) A collection agency may not impose a fee or charge, | 12 |
| including costs, for any child support payments collected | 13 |
| through the efforts of a federal, State, or local government | 14 |
| agency, including but not limited to child support collected | 15 |
| from federal or State tax refunds, unemployment insurance | 16 |
| benefits, or Social Security benefits. | 17 |
| If the client has received one or more payments during the | 18 |
| 12 months prior to execution of the contract with a collection | 19 |
| agency, that collection agency may not impose a fee or charge | 20 |
| on a current payment of an obligor. | 21 |
| As to any fees or charges retained by the collection | 22 |
| agency, the agency shall provide documentation to the client | 23 |
| demonstrating that the child support payments resulted from the | 24 |
| actions of the agency. | 25 |
| After collection of the total amount of arrearage, | 26 |
| including statutory interest, due on or before the date of | 27 |
| execution of the collection contract, no further fees may be | 28 |
| charged. | 29 |
| (a-6) The Department of Professional Regulation shall | 30 |
| determine a fee rate of not less than 25% but not greater than | 31 |
| 35% based upon presentation by the licensee as to costs to | 32 |
| provide the service and a fair rate of return. This rate shall | 33 |
| be established by administrative rule. | 34 |
| Without prejudice to the determination by the Department of |
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| the appropriate rate through administrative rule, a collection | 2 |
| agency shall impose a fee of not more than 29% of the amount of | 3 |
| child support actually collected by the collection agency | 4 |
| subject to the provisions of subsection (a-5). This interim | 5 |
| rate is based upon the March 2002 General Accounting Office | 6 |
| report "Child Support Enforcement", GAO-02-349. This rate | 7 |
| shall apply until a fee rate is established by administrative | 8 |
| rule. | 9 |
| (a-7) A collection agency shall execute a written | 10 |
| contract for the enforcement of child support for each client | 11 |
| of the agency. The contract required under this Section must: | 12 |
| (1) be in writing, dated, and signed by both parties to | 13 |
| the contract; | 14 |
| (2) specify its terms in clear language, including: | 15 |
| (A) the nature of the services to be provided the | 16 |
| client; | 17 |
| (B) all fees and charges for services provided by | 18 |
| the agency; | 19 |
| (C) the opportunities available to the client or | 20 |
| the agency to terminate the contract or other | 21 |
| conditions under which the contract terminates; | 22 |
| (D) the expected duration of the contract, stated | 23 |
| as a length of time or as an amount to be collected by | 24 |
| the agency as determined on the basis of official | 25 |
| government payment records or on the basis of an | 26 |
| affidavit of arrears by the client if official | 27 |
| government payment records requested by the registered | 28 |
| agency on behalf of the client are not made available | 29 |
| to the registered agency; | 30 |
| (E) the mailing address, telephone numbers, | 31 |
| facsimile numbers, and internet address or location of | 32 |
| the agency for the purpose of communications between | 33 |
| the registered agency and the client or any authorized | 34 |
| agent of the client; and |
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| (F) a statement that all inquiries that cannot be | 2 |
| resolved with the agency should be directed to the | 3 |
| Department of Professional Regulation and provides an | 4 |
| address, telephone number, and internet address. | 5 |
| (3) be reviewed for clarity by an attorney with the | 6 |
| Department of Professional Regulation and approved by the | 7 |
| Department. | 8 |
| (4) contain a provision in a font at least as large as | 9 |
| the other provisions of the contract, but no smaller than | 10 |
| 10-point size, informing the client that, subject to the | 11 |
| limitation in subsection (a-5), fees will be assessed on | 12 |
| all amounts collected regardless of whether they are | 13 |
| designated as current support or arrears. | 14 |
| (a-8) A registered agency shall maintain records of all | 15 |
| child support collections made on behalf of, and disbursed to, | 16 |
| a client who is an obligee, including: | 17 |
| (1) the name of and other identifying information | 18 |
| relating to any obligor who made child support payments | 19 |
| collected by the agency; | 20 |
| (2) the amount of support collected by the agency for | 21 |
| each client, including: | 22 |
| (A) the date on which the amount was collected; and | 23 |
| (B) the date on which each amount due the client by | 24 |
| the obligor was paid to the client; | 25 |
| (3) a copy of the order establishing the child support | 26 |
| obligation under which a collection was made by the agency; | 27 |
| (4) any other pertinent information relating to the | 28 |
| child support obligation, including any case, cause, or | 29 |
| docket number of the court having jurisdiction over the | 30 |
| matter and official government payment records obtained by | 31 |
| the agency on behalf of and at the request of the client; | 32 |
| (5) records of all correspondence between the agency | 33 |
| and a client or obligor in a case. | 34 |
| The records required under this Section must be updated at |
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| least monthly and must be maintained by the agency for a period | 2 |
| of 4 years from the date of the last support payment collected | 3 |
| by the agency on behalf of an obligee. | 4 |
| An agency must safeguard case records in a manner | 5 |
| reasonably expected to prevent intentional or accidental | 6 |
| disclosure of confidential client information, including | 7 |
| restricting access to authorized individuals within the agency | 8 |
| and providing necessary protections for records maintained in | 9 |
| an automated system. | 10 |
| A registered agency must timely inform clients of all legal | 11 |
| orders, hearings and notices intended for the client that have | 12 |
| been sent to the agency by a government child support | 13 |
| enforcement agency. | 14 |
| (a-9) All information contained in the files of an agency, | 15 |
| including information concerning the identity and location of | 16 |
| an obligee, an obligor, or any child, is confidential and may | 17 |
| not be disclosed to any person, except to the extent permitted | 18 |
| under applicable federal and state law to: | 19 |
| (1) the Department as required for the purpose of an | 20 |
| investigation of a complaint under Article 29 of this Act; | 21 |
| (2) a court or administrative tribunal having | 22 |
| jurisdiction in the enforcement of a child support | 23 |
| obligation; or | 24 |
| (3) a government agency authorized by law to enforce | 25 |
| child support obligations. | 26 |
| (b) The Department shall adopt rules necessary to | 27 |
| administer and enforce
the provisions of this Section.
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| (Source: P.A. 90-673, eff. 1-1-99; 91-613, eff. 10-1-99.)".
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