 Legislators voted 107-0-1 to approve
House Bill 5434 to stop Illinois residents from being sent to
jail when they cannot pay a debt. Over the last year, Madigan has
learned that residents in roughly a third of Illinois' counties
commonly face incarceration when they fail to appear in court in
response to a previously entered order to pay a debt. Madigan's
office found that in many of these cases, the notices of the court
hearings were mailed to addresses that were no longer valid, leaving
many debtors unaware of the hearings. In spite of the failure to
notify the debtors, courts frequently have issued bench warrants for
the missing debtors' arrests."Creditors have been manipulating
the court system to extract money from the unemployed, veterans,
even seniors who rely solely on their benefits to get by each
month," Madigan said. "Too many people have been thrown in jail
simply because they're too poor to pay their debts. We cannot allow
these illegal abuses to continue."
Madigan's legislation will put an end to other common
administrative abuses, including "pay or appear" orders that are
routinely entered against debtors in some counties. These orders --
which usually remain in effect for three years -- give debtors the
false option of making the required monthly payment or appearing in
court each month to explain why they are unable to pay. A debtor who
misses just one payment and court hearing can end up in jail.
Victims of these practices typically owe outstanding medical
bills, rent payments, credit card debts or payday loans. But many of
these same victims are living solely on income that is legally
protected from being required to pay outstanding debt judgments,
including Social Security, unemployment insurance or veterans'
benefits. Madigan said the legislation is necessary to implement
protections for these vulnerable consumers.
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According to court documents obtained by Madigan's office, one
Illinois court entered a "pay or appear" order against a mentally
disabled man living on legally protected disability benefits that
provided him with $690 a month. Even though the man informed the
court of his circumstances, he was ordered to pay $100 a month or
else appear in court once a month for a three-year period.
"The fact that impoverished debtors can still go to jail in several
Illinois counties casts a shadow on our entire state," said state
Rep. Ann Williams, the House sponsor of the bill. "As lawmakers, we
have a duty to protect the due process rights of Illinois residents
and to preserve the integrity of our legal system. This legislation
serves both of those vitally important purposes."
The legislation would amend the Code of Civil Procedure to codify
and clarify practices followed by attorneys, creditors and courts
across Illinois to ensure that courts make a finding of a consumer's
ability to pay before entering a payment order. The legislation also
would prohibit payment orders that rely on legally protected income
and assets and prevent bench warrants from being issued unless a
consumer was personally served with a hearing notice.
Sen. William Haine is sponsoring the legislation in the Senate.
[Text from file received from the office
of
Illinois Attorney General Lisa
Madigan]
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