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Public Act 097-1070 Public Act 1070 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
Public Act 097-1070 | HB5016 Enrolled | LRB097 18247 CEL 63473 b |
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| AN ACT concerning regulation.
| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
| represented in the General Assembly:
| Section 5. The Collection Agency Act is amended by changing | Section 2 and by adding Sections 8.5 and 8.6 as follows:
| (225 ILCS 425/2) (from Ch. 111, par. 2002)
| (Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2016)
| Sec. 2. Definitions. In this Act:
| "Charge-off balance" means an account principal and other | legally collectible costs, expenses, and interest accrued | prior to the charge-off date, less any payments or settlement. | "Charge-off date" means the date on which a receivable is | treated as a loss or expense. | "Consumer credit transaction" means a transaction between | a natural person and another person in which property, service, | or money is acquired on credit by that natural person from such | other person primarily for personal, family, or household | purposes. | "Consumer debt" or "consumer credit" means money, | property, or their equivalent, due or owing or alleged to be | due or owing from a natural person by reason of a consumer | credit transaction. | "Creditor" means a person who extends consumer credit to a |
| debtor. | "Current balance" means the charge-off balance plus any | legally collectible costs, expenses, and interest, less any | credits or payments. | "Debt" means money, property, or their equivalent which is | due or owing or alleged to be due or owing from a natural | person to another person. | "Debt buyer" means a person or entity that is engaged in | the business of purchasing delinquent or charged-off consumer | loans or consumer credit accounts or other delinquent consumer | debt for collection purposes, whether it collects the debt | itself or hires a third-party for collection or an | attorney-at-law for litigation in order to collect such debt. | "Debt collection" means any act or practice in connection | with the collection of consumer debts. | "Debt collector", "collection agency", or "agency" means | any person who, in the ordinary course of business, regularly, | on behalf of himself or herself or others, engages in debt | collection. | "Debtor" means a natural person from whom a debt collector | seeks to collect a consumer debt that is due and owing or | alleged to be due and owing from such person. | "Department" means Division of Professional Regulation | within the Department of Financial and Professional | Regulation. | "Director" means the Director of the Division of |
| Professional Regulation within the Department of Financial and | Professional Regulation. | "Person" means a natural person, partnership, corporation, | limited liability company, trust, estate, cooperative, | association, or other similar entity.
| (Source: P.A. 95-437, eff. 1-1-08.)
| (225 ILCS 425/8.5 new) | Sec. 8.5. Debt buyers. A debt buyer shall be subject to all | of the terms, conditions, and requirements of this Act, except | as otherwise provided for in subsection (b) of Section 8.6 of | this Act. | (225 ILCS 425/8.6 new) | Sec. 8.6. Debt buyer activities. | (a) Debt buyers initiating actions upon an obligation | arising out of a consumer debt shall be commenced within the | applicable statute of limitations period. | (b) With respect to its activities as a debt buyer in | pursuing the collection of accounts it owns, a debt buyer shall | be subject to all of the terms, conditions, and requirements of | this Act, except that a debt buyer shall not be required to (i) | file and maintain in force a surety bond under Section 8 of | this Act; (ii) maintain a trust account under Section 8c of | this Act; (iii) procure written authorization to refer the | account to an attorney for suit under Section 8a-1 of this Act; |
| or (iv) adhere to the assignment for collection criteria under | Section 8b of this Act. | (c) The Attorney General may enforce against debt buyers | the provisions identified in Section 9.7 of this Act as an | unlawful practice under the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive | Business Practices Act.
| Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect January | 1, 2013.
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Effective Date: 1/1/2013
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