765 ILCS 940/50

(765 ILCS 940/50)

Sec. 50. Violations.

(a) It is a violation for a distressed property consultant to:

(1) claim, demand, charge, collect, or receive any compensation until after the distressed property consultant has fully performed each service the distressed property consultant contracted to perform or represented he or she would perform;

(2) claim, demand, charge, collect, or receive any fee, interest, or any other compensation that does not comport with Section 70;

(3) take a wage assignment, a lien of any type on real or personal property, or other security to secure the payment of compensation. Any such security is void and unenforceable;

(4) receive any consideration from any third party in connection with services rendered to an owner unless the consideration is first fully disclosed to the owner;

(5) acquire any interest, directly or indirectly, or by means of a subsidiary or affiliate in a distressed property from an owner with whom the distressed property consultant has contracted;

(6) take any power of attorney from an owner for any purpose, except to inspect documents as provided by law;

(7) induce or attempt to induce an owner to enter a contract that does not comply in all respects with Sections 10 and 15 of this Act; or

(8) enter into, enforce, or act upon any agreement with a foreclosure defendant, whether the foreclosure is completed or otherwise, if the agreement provides for a division of proceeds between the foreclosure defendant and the distressed property consultant derived from litigation related to the foreclosure.

(b) A distressed property purchaser, in the course of a distressed property conveyance, shall not:

(1) enter into, or attempt to enter into, a distressed property conveyance unless the distressed property purchaser verifies and can demonstrate that the owner of the distressed property has a reasonable ability to pay for the subsequent conveyance of an interest back to the owner of the distressed property and to make monthly or any other required payments due prior to that time;

(2) fail to make a payment to the owner of the distressed property at the time the title is conveyed so that the owner of the distressed property has received consideration in an amount of at least 82% of the property's fair market value, or, in the alternative, fail to pay the owner of the distressed property no more than the costs necessary to extinguish all of the existing obligations on the distressed property, as set forth in subdivision (b)(10) of Section 45, provided that the owner's costs to repurchase the distressed property pursuant to the terms of the distressed property conveyance contract do not exceed 125% of the distressed property purchaser's costs to purchase the property. If an owner is unable to repurchase the property pursuant to the terms of the distressed property conveyance contract, the distressed property purchaser shall not fail to make a payment to the owner of the distressed property so that the owner of the distressed property has received consideration in an amount of at least 82% of the property's fair market value at the time of conveyance or at the expiration of the owner's option to repurchase.

(3) enter into repurchase or lease terms as part of the subsequent conveyance that are unfair or commercially unreasonable, or engage in any other unfair conduct;

(4) represent, directly or indirectly, that the distressed property purchaser is acting as an advisor or a consultant, or in any other manner represent that the distressed property purchaser is acting on behalf of the homeowner, or the distressed property purchaser is assisting the owner of the distressed property to "save the house", "buy time", or do anything couched in substantially similar language;

(5) misrepresent the distressed property purchaser's status as to licensure or certification;

(6) do any of the following until after the time during which the owner of a distressed property may cancel the transaction:

(A) accept from the owner of the distressed property an execution of any instrument of conveyance of any interest in the distressed property;

(B) induce the owner of the distressed property to execute an instrument of conveyance of any interest in the distressed property; or

(C) record with the county recorder of deeds any document signed by the owner of the distressed property, including but not limited to any instrument of conveyance;

(7) fail to reconvey title to the distressed property when the terms of the conveyance contract have been fulfilled;

(8) induce the owner of the distressed property to execute a quit claim deed when entering into a distressed property conveyance;

(9) enter into a distressed property conveyance where any party to the transaction is represented by power of attorney;

(10) fail to extinguish all liens encumbering the distressed property, immediately following the conveyance of the distressed property, or fail to assume all liability with respect to the lien in foreclosure and prior liens that will not be extinguished by such foreclosure, which assumption shall be accomplished without violations of the terms and conditions of the lien being assumed. Nothing herein shall preclude a lender from enforcing any provision in a contract that is not otherwise prohibited by law;

(11) fail to complete a distressed property conveyance before a notary in the offices of a title company licensed by the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, before an agent of such a title company, a notary in the office of a bank, or a licensed attorney where the notary is employed; or

(12) cause the property to be conveyed or encumbered without the knowledge or permission of the distressed property owner, or in any way frustrate the ability of the distressed property owner to complete the conveyance back to the distressed property owner.

(c) There is a rebuttable presumption that an appraisal by a person licensed or certified by an agency of this State or the federal government is an accurate determination of the fair market value of the property.

(d) "Consideration" in item (2) of subsection (b) means any payment or thing of value provided to the owner of the distressed property, including reasonable costs paid to independent third parties necessary to complete the distressed property conveyance or payment of money to satisfy a debt or legal obligation of the owner of the distressed property.

"Consideration" shall not include amounts imputed as a downpayment or fee to the distressed property purchaser, or a person acting in participation with the distressed property purchaser.

(e) An evaluation of "reasonable ability to pay" under subsection (b)(1) of this Section 50 shall include debt to income ratio, fair market value of the distressed property, and the distressed property owner's payment history. There is a rebuttable presumption that the distressed property purchaser has not verified reasonable payment ability if the distressed property purchaser has not obtained documents of assets, liabilities, and income, other than a statement by the owner of the distressed property.

(Source: P.A. 100-1048, eff. 8-23-18.)