Bill Text: IL SB2464 | 2019-2020 | 101st General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Collection Agency Act. Provides that the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation may discipline a licensee if a finding is made by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau or Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection that a licensee violated the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act or its rules.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2021-01-13 - Session Sine Die [SB2464 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2019-SB2464-Introduced.html

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101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2019 and 2020 SB2464 Introduced 1/15/2020, by Sen. Rachelle Crowe SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
225 ILCS 425/9 from Ch. 111, par. 2012
Amends the Collection Agency Act. Provides that the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation may discipline a licensee if a finding is made by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau or Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection that a licensee violated the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act or its rules.
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A BILL FOR
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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 9 as follows:
(225 ILCS 425/9) (from Ch. 111, par. 2012)
(Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2026)
Sec. 9. Disciplinary actions.
(a) The Department may refuse to issue or renew, or may
revoke, suspend, place on probation, reprimand or take other
disciplinary or non-disciplinary action as the Department may
deem proper, including fines not to exceed $10,000 per
violation, for any one or any combination of the following
causes:
(1) Material misstatement in furnishing information to
the Department.
(2) Violations of this Act or of the rules promulgated
hereunder.
(3) Conviction by plea of guilty or nolo contendere,
finding of guilt, jury verdict, or entry of judgment or by
sentencing of any crime, including, but not limited to,
convictions, preceding sentences of supervision,
conditional discharge, or first offender probation of the

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collection agency or any of the officers or owners of more
than 10% interest of the agency of any crime under the laws
of any U.S. jurisdiction that (i) is a felony, (ii) is a
misdemeanor, an essential element of which is dishonesty,
or (iii) is directly related to the practice of a
collection agency.
(4) Fraud or misrepresentation in applying for, or
procuring, a license under this Act or in connection with
applying for renewal of a license under this Act.
(5) Aiding or assisting another person in violating any
provision of this Act or rules adopted under this Act.
(6) Failing, within 60 days, to provide information in
response to a written request made by the Department.
(7) Habitual or excessive use or addiction to alcohol,
narcotics, stimulants or any other chemical agent or drug
which results in the inability to practice with reasonable
judgment, skill, or safety by any of the officers or owners
of 10% or more interest of a collection agency.
(8) Discipline by another state, the District of
Columbia, a territory of the United States, or a foreign
nation, if at least one of the grounds for the discipline
is the same or substantially equivalent to those set forth
in this Act.
(9) A finding by the Department that the licensee,
after having his license placed on probationary status, has
violated the terms of probation.

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(10) Willfully making or filing false records or
reports in his or her practice, including, but not limited
to, false records filed with State agencies or departments.
(11) Practicing or attempting to practice under a false
or, except as provided by law, an assumed name.
(12) A finding by the Federal Trade Commission,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, or Bureau of
Consumer Financial Protection that a licensee violated the
federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act or its rules.
(13) Failure to file a return, or to pay the tax,
penalty or interest shown in a filed return, or to pay any
final assessment of tax, penalty or interest, as required
by any tax Act administered by the Illinois Department of
Revenue until such time as the requirements of any such tax
Act are satisfied.
(14) Using or threatening to use force or violence to
cause physical harm to a debtor, his or her family or his
or her property.
(15) Threatening to instigate an arrest or criminal
prosecution where no basis for a criminal complaint
lawfully exists.
(16) Threatening the seizure, attachment or sale of a
debtor's property where such action can only be taken
pursuant to court order without disclosing that prior court
proceedings are required.
(17) Disclosing or threatening to disclose information

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adversely affecting a debtor's reputation for credit
worthiness with knowledge the information is false.
(18) Initiating or threatening to initiate
communication with a debtor's employer unless there has
been a default of the payment of the obligation for at
least 30 days and at least 5 days prior written notice, to
the last known address of the debtor, of the intention to
communicate with the employer has been given to the
employee, except as expressly permitted by law or court
order.
(19) Communicating with the debtor or any member of
the debtor's family at such a time of day or night and with
such frequency as to constitute harassment of the debtor or
any member of the debtor's family. For purposes of this
Section the following conduct shall constitute harassment:
(A) Communicating with the debtor or any member of
his or her family in connection with the collection of
any debt without the prior consent of the debtor given
directly to the debt collector, or the express
permission of a court of competent jurisdiction, at any
unusual time or place or a time or place known or which
should be known to be inconvenient to the debtor. In
the absence of knowledge of circumstances to the
contrary, a debt collector shall assume that the
convenient time for communicating with a consumer is
after 8 o'clock a.m. and before 9 o'clock p.m. local

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time at the debtor's location.
(B) The threat of publication or publication of a
list of consumers who allegedly refuse to pay debts,
except to a consumer reporting agency.
(C) The threat of advertisement or advertisement
for sale of any debt to coerce payment of the debt.
(D) Causing a telephone to ring or engaging any
person in telephone conversation repeatedly or
continuously with intent to annoy, abuse, or harass any
person at the called number.
(20) Using profane, obscene or abusive language in
communicating with a debtor, his or her family or others.
(21) Disclosing or threatening to disclose information
relating to a debtor's debt to any other person except
where such other person has a legitimate business need for
the information or except where such disclosure is
permitted by law.
(22) Disclosing or threatening to disclose information
concerning the existence of a debt which the collection
agency knows to be disputed by the debtor without
disclosing the fact that the debtor disputes the debt.
(23) Engaging in any conduct that is intended to cause
and did cause mental or physical illness to the debtor or
his or her family.
(24) Attempting or threatening to enforce a right or
remedy with knowledge or reason to know that the right or

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remedy does not exist.
(25) Failing to disclose to the debtor or his or her
family the corporate, partnership or proprietary name, or
other trade or business name, under which the collection
agency is engaging in debt collections and which he or she
is legally authorized to use.
(26) Using any form of communication which simulates
legal or judicial process or which gives the appearance of
being authorized, issued or approved by a governmental
agency or official or by an attorney at law when it is not.
(27) Using any badge, uniform, or other indicia of any
governmental agency or official except as authorized by
law.
(28) Conducting business under any name or in any
manner which suggests or implies that the collection agency
is a branch of or is affiliated in any way with a
governmental agency or court if such collection agency is
not.
(29) Failing to disclose, at the time of making any
demand for payment, the name of the person to whom the debt
is owed and at the request of the debtor, the address where
payment is to be made and the address of the person to whom
the debt is owed.
(30) Misrepresenting the amount of the debt alleged to
be owed.
(31) Representing that an existing debt may be

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increased by the addition of attorney's fees,
investigation fees or any other fees or charges when such
fees or charges may not legally be added to the existing
debt.
(32) Representing that the collection agency is an
attorney at law or an agent for an attorney if he or she is
not.
(33) Collecting or attempting to collect any interest
or other charge or fee in excess of the actual debt unless
such interest or other charge or fee is expressly
authorized by the agreement creating the debt unless
expressly authorized by law or unless in a commercial
transaction such interest or other charge or fee is
expressly authorized in a subsequent agreement. If a
contingency or hourly fee arrangement (i) is established
under an agreement between a collection agency and a
creditor to collect a debt and (ii) is paid by a debtor
pursuant to a contract between the debtor and the creditor,
then that fee arrangement does not violate this Section
unless the fee is unreasonable. The Department shall
determine what constitutes a reasonable collection fee.
(34) Communicating or threatening to communicate with
a debtor when the collection agency is informed in writing
by an attorney that the attorney represents the debtor
concerning the debt. If the attorney fails to respond
within a reasonable period of time, the collector may

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communicate with the debtor. The collector may communicate
with the debtor when the attorney gives his or her consent.
(35) Engaging in dishonorable, unethical, or
unprofessional conduct of a character likely to deceive,
defraud, or harm the public.
(b) No collection agency while collecting or attempting to
collect a debt shall engage in any of the Acts specified in
this Section, each of which shall be unlawful practice.
(Source: P.A. 99-227, eff. 8-3-15; 100-872, eff. 8-14-18.)