Public Act 90-0677
HB3790 Enrolled LRB9010485DJcd
AN ACT to amend the Code of Civil Procedure by changing
Sections 12-805, 12-806, and 12-808 and adding Section
12-808.5.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Code of Civil Procedure is amended by
changing Sections 12-805, 12-806, and 12-808 and adding
Section 12-808.5 as follows:
(735 ILCS 5/12-805) (from Ch. 110, par. 12-805)
Sec. 12-805. Summons; Issuance.
(a) Upon the filing by a judgment creditor, its attorney
or other designee of (1) an affidavit that the affiant
believes any person is indebted to the judgment debtor for
wages due or to become due, as provided in Part 8 of Article
XII of this Act, and includes the last address of the
judgment debtor known to the affiant as well as the name of
the judgment debtor, and a certification by the judgment
creditor or his attorney that, before filing the affidavit,
the wage deduction notice has been mailed to the judgment
debtor by first class mail at the judgment debtor's last
known address, and (2) written interrogatories to be answered
by the employer with respect to the indebtedness, the clerk
of the court in which the judgment was entered shall issue
summons against the person named in the affidavit as employer
commanding the employer to appear in the court and answer the
interrogatories in writing under oath. The interrogatories
shall elicit all the information necessary to determine the
proper amount of non-exempt wages. The interrogatories shall
require that the employer certify that a copy of the
completed interrogatories as specified in subsection (c) of
Section 12-808 has been mailed or hand delivered to the
judgment debtor and shall be in a form consistent with local
court rules. The summons shall further command federal
agency employers, upon effective service of summons pursuant
to 5 USC 5520a, to commence to pay over deducted wages in
accordance with Section 12-808. The summons shall be in a
form consistent with local court rules. The summons shall be
accompanied by a copy of the underlying judgment or a
certification by the clerk of the court that entered the
judgment, or by the attorney for the judgment creditor,
setting forth the date and amount of the judgment, allowable
costs expended, interest accumulated, credits paid by or on
behalf of the judgment debtor and the balance due the
judgment creditor, the name of the court, and the number of
the case and one copy of a wage deduction notice in
substantially the following form:
"WAGE DEDUCTION NOTICE
(Name and address of Court)
Name of Case: (Name of Judgment Creditor),
Judgment Creditor v.
(Name of Judgment Debtor),
Judgment Debtor.
Address of Judgment Debtor: (Insert last known address)
Name and Address of Attorney for Judgment
Creditor or of Judgment Creditor (if no
attorney is listed): (Insert name and address)
Amount of Judgment: $..........
Employer: (Name of Employer)
Return Date: (Insert return date specified in summons)
NOTICE: The court shall be asked to issue a wage deduction
summons against the employer named above for wages due or
about to become due to you. The wage deduction summons may be
issued on the basis of a judgment against you in favor of the
judgment creditor in the amount stated above.
The amount of wages that may be deducted is limited by
federal and Illinois law.
(1) Under Illinois law, the amount of wages that
may be deducted is limited to the lesser of (i) 15% of
gross weekly wages or (ii) the amount by which disposable
earnings for a week exceed the total of 45 times the
federal minimum hourly wage.
(2) Under federal law, the amount of wages that may
be deducted is limited to the lesser of (i) 25% of
disposable earnings for a week or (ii) the amount by
which disposable earnings for a week exceed 30 times the
federal minimum hourly wage.
(3) Pension and retirement benefits and refunds may
be claimed as exempt from wage deduction under Illinois
law.
You have the right to request a hearing before the court
to dispute the wage deduction because the wages are exempt.
To obtain a hearing in counties with a population of
1,000,000 or more, you must notify the Clerk of the Court in
person and in writing at (insert address of Clerk) before the
Return Date specified above or appear in court on the date
and time on that Return Date. To obtain a hearing in
counties with a population of less than 1,000,000, you must
notify the Clerk of the Court in writing at (insert address
of clerk) on or before the Return Date specified above. The
Clerk of the Court will provide a hearing date and the
necessary forms that must be prepared by you or your attorney
and sent to the judgment creditor and the employer, or their
attorney, regarding the time and location of the hearing.
This notice may be sent by regular first class mail."
(b) In a county with a population of less than
1,000,000, unless otherwise provided by circuit court rule,
at the request of the judgment creditor or his or her
attorney and instead of personal service, service of a
summons for a wage deduction may be made as follows:
(1) For each employer to be served, the judgment
creditor or his or her attorney shall pay to the clerk of
the court a fee of $2, plus the cost of mailing, and
furnish to the clerk an original and one copy of a
summons, an original and one copy of the interrogatories
and an affidavit setting forth the employer's mailing
address, an original and one copy of the wage deduction
notice required by subsection (a) of this Section, and a
copy of the judgment or certification described in
subsection (a) of this Section. The original judgment
shall be retained by the clerk.
(2) The clerk shall mail to the employer, at the
address appearing in the affidavit, the copy of the
judgment or certification described in subsection (a) of
this Section, the summons, the interrogatories, and the
wage deduction notice required by subsection (a) of this
Section, by certified or registered mail, return receipt
requested, showing to whom delivered and the date and
address of delivery. This Mailing shall be mailed on a
"restricted delivery" basis when service is directed to a
natural person. The envelope and return receipt shall
bear the return address of the clerk, and the return
receipt shall be stamped with the docket number of the
case. The receipt for certified or registered mail shall
state the name and address of the addressee, the date of
the mailing, shall identify the documents mailed, and
shall be attached to the original summons.
(3) The return receipt must be attached to the
original summons and, if it shows delivery at least 3 84
days before the return date, shall constitute proof of
service of any documents identified on the return receipt
as having been mailed.
(4) The clerk shall note the fact of service in a
permanent record.
(c) Instead of personal service, a summons for a wage
deduction may be served and returned in the manner provided
by Supreme Court rule for service, otherwise than by
publication, of a notice for additional relief upon a party
in default.
(Source: P.A. 88-492; 89-28, eff. 6-23-95.)
(735 ILCS 5/12-806) (from Ch. 110, par. 12-806)
Sec. 12-806. Service and return of summons. Summons
shall be returnable not less than 21 98 nor more than 40 112
days after the date of issuance. Summons with 4 copies of
the interrogatories and one copy of the judgment or
certification and one copy of the wage deduction notice
specified in Section 12-805 of this Act shall be served on
the employer and returned as in other civil cases.
If the employer is served with summons less than 3 84
days prior to the return date, the court shall continue the
case to a new return date not less than 21 84 days after the
service of the summons.
(Source: P.A. 86-1268; 87-569.)
(735 ILCS 5/12-808) (from Ch. 110, par. 12-808)
Sec. 12-808. Duty of employer.
(a) An employer served as herein provided shall pay the
employee the amount of his or her exempt wages.
(b) To the extent of the amount due upon the judgment
and costs, the employer shall hold, subject to order of
court, any non-exempt wages due or which subsequently come
due. The judgment or balance due thereon is a lien on wages
due at the time of the service of summons, and such lien
shall continue as to subsequent earnings until the total
amount due upon the judgment and costs is paid or until the
expiration of the employer's payroll period ending
immediately prior to 84 days after the service of summons,
whichever first occurs, except that such lien on subsequent
earnings shall terminate sooner if the employment
relationship is terminated or if the underlying judgment is
vacated or modified.
(b-5) If the employer is a federal agency employer and
the creditor is represented by an attorney, then the
employer, upon service of summons and to the extent of the
amount due upon the judgment and costs, shall commence to pay
over to the attorney for the judgment creditor any non-exempt
wages due or that subsequently come due. The attorney for
the judgment creditor shall thereafter hold the deducted
wages subject to further order of the court and shall make
answer to the court regarding amounts received from the
federal agency employer. The federal agency employer's
periodic payments shall be considered a sufficient answer to
the interrogatories.
(c) Except as provided in subsection (b-5), the employer
shall file, on or before the return date, but in no event
sooner than 84 days after service of the summons, or within
the further time that the court for cause may allow, a
written answer under oath to the interrogatories, setting
forth the amount due as wages to the judgment debtor for the
payroll periods ending immediately prior to 84 days after the
service of the summons, the amount of non-exempt wages held
by the employer subject to order of court, and a summary of
the computation used to determine the amount of non-exempt
wages. Except as provided in subsection (b-5), the employer
shall mail by first class mail or hand deliver a copy of the
answer to the judgment debtor at the address specified in the
affidavit filed under Section 12-805 of this Act, or at any
other address or location of the judgment debtor known to the
employer.
A lien obtained hereunder shall have priority over any
subsequent lien obtained hereunder, except that liens for the
support of a spouse or dependent children shall have priority
over all other liens obtained hereunder. Subsequent
summonses shall be effective for successive 84 day periods in
the order in which they are served.
(d) The Illinois Supreme Court may by rule allow an
employer to file answers to interrogatories by facsimile
transmission.
(e) Pursuant to answer under oath to the interrogatories
by the employer, an order shall be entered compelling the
employer to deduct from wages of the judgment debtor subject
to collection under a deduction order an amount not to exceed
the lesser of (i) 15% of the gross amount of the wages or
(ii) the amount by which disposable earnings for a week
exceed 45 times the Federal Minimum Hourly Wage prescribed by
Section 206(a)(1) of Title 29 of the United States Code, as
amended, in effect at the time the amounts are payable, for
each pay period in which statutory exemptions under Section
12-804 and child support garnishments, if any, leave funds to
be remitted. The order shall further provide that deducted
wages shall be remitted to the creditor or creditor's
attorney on a monthly basis.
(Source: P.A. 89-28, eff. 6-23-95.)
(735 ILCS 5/12-808.5 new)
Sec. 12-808.5. Certification of judgment balance.
Whenever a wage deduction order has not been fully satisfied
by the end of the first full calendar quarter following the
date of service of the wage deduction summons:
(1) The judgment creditor or his attorney shall
prepare a certification that states the amount of the
judgment remaining unsatisfied as of the last calendar
day of each full calendar quarter for which the wage
deduction order continues in effect.
(2) The certification shall be mailed or delivered
to the employer by the judgment creditor or his or her
attorney within 15 days after the end of each calendar
quarter for which the wage deduction order continues in
effect. The employer shall hand deliver or mail by first
class mail a copy of the certification to the judgment
debtor at the judgment debtor's last known address.