110 ILCS 992/1-5
As used in this Act:
"Applicant" means a person applying for a license pursuant to this Act.
"Borrower" or "student loan borrower" means a person who has received or agreed to pay a student loan for his or her own educational expenses.
"Cosigner" means any individual who is liable for the obligation of another without compensation, regardless of how the individual is designated in the contract or instrument with respect to that obligation, including an obligation under a private education loan extended to consolidate a borrower's preexisting student loans. The term includes any individual whose signature is requested, as a condition, to grant credit or to forbear on collection. The term does not include a spouse of an individual if the spouse's signature is needed solely to perfect the security interest in a loan .
"Department" means the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.
"Division of Banking" means the Division of Banking of the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.
"Federal loan borrower eligible for referral to a repayment specialist" means a borrower who possesses any of the following characteristics:
"Federal education loan" means any loan made, guaranteed, or insured under Title IV of the federal Higher Education Act of 1965.
"Income-driven payment plan certification" means the documentation related to a federal student loan borrower's income or financial status the borrower must submit to renew an income-driven repayment plan.
"Income-driven repayment options" includes the Income-Contingent Repayment Plan, the Income-Based Repayment Plan, the Income-Sensitive Repayment Plan, the Pay As You Earn Plan, the Revised Pay As You Earn Plan, and any other federal student loan repayment plan that is calculated based on a borrower's income.
"Licensee" means a person licensed pursuant to this Act.
"Other repayment plans" means the Standard Repayment Plan, the Graduated Repayment Plan, the Extended Repayment Plan, or any other federal student loan repayment plan not based on a borrower's income.
"Private education loan" has the meaning ascribed to the term in Section 140 of the federal Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1650). In addition, "private education loan" includes an income share agreement and student financing.
"Private loan borrower eligible for referral to a repayment specialist" means a borrower who possesses any of the following characteristics:
"Requester" means any borrower or cosigner that submits a request for assistance.
"Request for assistance" means all inquiries, complaints, account disputes, and requests for documentation a servicer receives from borrowers or cosigners.
"Secretary" means the Secretary of Financial and Professional Regulation, or his or her designee, including the Director of the Division of Banking of the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.
"Servicing" means: (1) receiving any scheduled periodic payments from a student loan borrower or cosigner pursuant to the terms of a student loan; (2) applying the payments of principal and interest and such other payments with respect to the amounts received from a student loan borrower or cosigner, as may be required pursuant to the terms of a student loan; and (3) performing other administrative services with respect to a student loan.
"Student loan" or "loan" means any federal education loan or other loan primarily for use to finance a postsecondary education and costs of attendance at a postsecondary institution, including, but not limited to, tuition, fees, books and supplies, room and board, transportation, and miscellaneous personal expenses. "Student loan" includes a loan made to refinance a student loan.
"Student loan" shall not include an extension of credit under an open-end consumer credit plan, a reverse mortgage transaction, a residential mortgage transaction, or any other loan that is secured by real property or a dwelling.
"Student loan" shall not include an extension of credit made by a postsecondary educational institution to a borrower if one of the following apply:
"Student loan servicer" or "servicer" means any person engaged in the business of servicing student loans. "Student loan servicer" or "servicer" includes persons or entities acting on behalf of the State Treasurer.
"Student loan servicer" shall not include:
"Total and permanent disability" means a physical or mental impairment, disease, or loss of a permanent nature that prevents employment with or without reasonable accommodation, with proof of disability being in the form of a declaration from the United States Social Security Administration, the Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission, the United States Department of Defense, or an insurer authorized to transact business in this State who is providing disability insurance coverage to a contractor. The term does not include a condition that has not progressed or been exacerbated or that the individual did not acquire until after the closing of the loan agreement. In addition, documentation sufficient to establish a total and permanent disability for a federal student loan made pursuant to Title IV of the federal Higher Education Act of 1965 is sufficient to establish a total and permanent disability under this Act.
110 ILCS 992/1-5