Two different claims. The first means a person traced every figure on this page to the regulator, the statute or a court — each one cited inline, click any marker to open the source. The second is automated: our monitor confirms daily that those sources still resolve and still contain the text we cite them for. Only a person moves the first. Only the monitor moves the second.
Illinois caps every consumer loan at 36% APR, all-in. Anything above that is not merely illegal — it is null and void, and the lender has no right to collect it, or to keep what you have already paid.
Predatory Loan Prevention Act, 815 ILCS 123
The statutory language is unusually direct: any loan made in violation of the Act is null and void, and no person or entity has any right to collect, attempt to collect, receive, or retain any principal, fee, interest or charge related to it.
Note the last word. New York voids the debt. Illinois goes further and removes the right to retain what has already been paid — which is a different question, and one worth putting to a lawyer if you have been paying on a loan above the cap.
Each violation carries a fine of up to $10,000, enforceable by IDFPR and the Attorney General.
815 ILCS 123 · SB 1792, signed 23 March 2021, effective immediately · IDFPR regulations effective 1 August 2022
Illinois Attorney General on the 36% cap →
The PLPA is not retroactive. IDFPR has confirmed that a lawful contract entered into before 23 March 2021 remains effective and the lender may continue to service it.
If your loan was made or renewed after that date, the cap applies. If it predates it, different rules govern — and the word renewed is worth attention, because a refinance after that date may bring the loan within the Act.
This is a stricter test than a normal APR, and it is the reason the cap has held.
Before the cap
297%The average APR on a payday loan in Illinois before the PLPA. High-cost lending was estimated to be draining around $500 million a year in interest and fees from Illinois borrowers.Illinois · RegulatorIDFPR — consumer advocates estimated high-cost loans drained $500 million in interest and fees from vulnerable Illinoisans every year
The standard objection to a rate cap is that lenders leave and borrowers are left with nothing. Illinois is the clearest natural experiment available, and the regulator publishes the outcome.
IDFPR’s own account: since the PLPA, almost every high-cost payday and automobile title lender has surrendered their Illinois licence — while the number of traditional lenders making loans at or under 36% APR has grown.Illinois · RegulatorIDFPR initiatives page — almost every high-cost payday and auto title lender surrendered their Illinois license, while the number of traditional lenders making loans at or under 36% APR has grown
Independent analysis reports 172 new lender licences or branches since the Act, and one not-for-profit lender recording a 70% increase in originations without a fall in approval rates.Illinois · ResearchWoodstock Institute analysis of PLPA outcomes — 172 new lender licences/branches; a not-for-profit lender reported a 70% increase in originations
Read that carefully. It does not show that nobody lost access to credit — some borrowers certainly did. It shows that the market did not simply vanish, which is what was predicted.
Whatever the legal position, you can revoke ACH authorisation and instruct your bank to stop payment. Do that first. What the regulation says →
Made or renewed after 23 March 2021 and the cap applies. Before that, it does not — but check whether it has since been refinanced.
Contracts subject to the Act must include a separate disclosure, signed by you, stating the 36% limit. Its absence is a question worth raising.
IDFPR and the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection division both enforce the Act, with penalties up to $10,000 per violation.
The Act removes any right to retain charges on a void loan, not only to collect them. What that means for payments you have already made is a genuine legal question, and Illinois legal aid offices handle it. Do not stop paying on the strength of a web page — including this one.
Every figure carries the jurisdiction and the exact provision it came from. Click to open the source.
A payday loan is a consumer debt. If it goes unpaid, two Illinois rules decide what a lender can do next: how long it has to sue you, and how much of your pay a court can order taken.
Being sued over an old payday loan? A collector can still file, but the time limit is a defence you can raise — and you cannot be jailed for the debt. What can and cannot happen if you don’t pay →