Gov. Pritzker signs Consumer Fairness Act, high interest debt relief bill
CHICAGO (WLS) -- Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed consumer debt legislation into law Monday.
"Consumer debt is at an all-time high all across the United States, and there are millions of people, including too many Illinois families, who are struggling under unconscionable circumstances," said Gov. Pritzker.
The new bill, the Consumer Fairness Act, will provide relief to Illinoisans from high interest on their debt.
"Under this new law, families will now pay a lower post-judgement interest rate for sums of $25,000 or less, and we're reducing the time frame in which the collection of a collect judgement can be revived," Gov. Pritzker said.
According to the Heartland Alliance, one in three Illinois residents are in the debt collection process.
Gov. Pritzker said the new legislation will drop post-judgement interest rates from 9 percent to 5 percent. He also said the bill will shrink the collection window from 26 years to 17 years.
"The number represent the lives of real people. They are elderly people free from drowning in debt from past decades. They are families able to build financial stability for their kids, no longer trapped in a vicious cycle of debt," Gov. Pritzker said.
HB 88 was passed unanimously without opposition from debt collectors and other financial institutions, according to the Governor's office.
The bill signing was held at Chicago Volunteer Legal Services at 33 N. Dearborn St. at 9:30 a.m.
The Consumer Fairness Act will take effect January 1, 2020.
