A civil action is subject to the requirements of this Part if the complaint contains any claim
originating from a credit card or by a debt buyer attempting to collect a consumer debt.
Rule 280.Applicability.
Article II. Rules on Civil Proceedings in the Trial Court · Part I. Credit Card or Debt Buyer Collection Actions · Last amended 2018 · Last verified July 20, 2026
In one sentenceA single claim tied to a credit card or a debt buyer pulls the whole lawsuit under Part I’s special filing requirements.
Full Text of Ill. S. Ct. R. 280
Plain-English Summary
Rule 280 works as a gate. Before anything else, a court or lawyer has to ask one question: does this complaint include even one claim that comes from a credit card or from a debt buyer trying to collect a consumer debt? If the answer is yes, the entire case follows the rules in this Part, no matter what else the complaint contains.
The gate exists because credit-card and debt-buyer suits flooded Illinois courts for years, often ending in default judgments against people who never showed up, sometimes for debts that had already been paid, misidentified, or sold multiple times. Part I responds by requiring proof up front rather than after the fact.
Rule 280 doesn’t itself demand any paperwork — that comes later, in Rules 280.2 through 280.5. Its job is narrower: mark which cases have to clear those hurdles.
Frequently Asked Questions
What kind of claim brings a case under Part I?
Any claim in the complaint that stems from a credit card, or from a debt buyer trying to collect a consumer debt.
Does it matter if the complaint also raises unrelated claims?
No — the presence of one qualifying claim is enough to bring the whole action under Part I’s requirements.
Who counts as a debt buyer under this rule?
Rule 280.1 defines the term: a business that buys delinquent or charged-off consumer debt to collect on it, whether directly or through a third party or lawyer.
Why did Illinois create a separate track for these cases?
To require proof that the debt is real, owned by the plaintiff, and accurately calculated, given how often these suits ended in default judgments without that proof.
What happens if a case doesn’t meet this rule’s trigger?
It proceeds under the ordinary civil procedure rules rather than the added Part I requirements.
Amendment History
Adopted June 8, 2018, eff. Oct. 1, 2018.
Source & verification. Rule text, official Committee Comments, and
amendment history are reproduced verbatim from the Illinois Supreme Court Rules,
promulgated by the Supreme Court of Illinois. Last verified July 20, 2026.
· Official source
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