Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan plans to fight the use of arrest warrants by collectors, vowing in a recent interview to push judges to stop the practice and promising to pursue enforcement against companies that seek such warrants under Illinois law.
Collection-related arrest warrants are issued after a consumer is sued for payments on an outstanding debt and doesn't show up in court or fails to make payments ordered by a judge.
The threat of jail time typically is used as a last resort, according to collection industry officials. And, some judges don't like the use of arrest warrants, comparing them to a modern-day version of debtors' prison.
More than one-third of U.S. states allow borrowers who can't or won't pay to be jailed. Nationwide statistics aren't known because many courts don't keep track of warrants by alleged offense, but a tally by The Wall Street Journal this year of court filings in nine counties across the U.S. showed that judges signed off on more than 5,000 such warrants since the start of 2010.
Madigan is concerned that borrowers sometimes are being thrown into jail without even knowing they were sued, a problem she attributes to incomplete or failty paperwork submitted to courts.
"We can no longer allow debt collectors to pervert the courts," said Madigan, a Democrat who took office in 2003.
While Madigan can't force judges to stop permitting debt-related arrest warrants, she says she is counting on many Illinois judges agreeing with her once they fully understand the practice.
