815 ILCS 124/19: Additional investigation and examination authority.

In addition to any authority allowed under this Act, the Secretary shall have the authority to conduct investigations and examinations as follows:

(a) For purposes of initial licensing, license renewal, license suspension, license conditioning, license probation, license revocation or termination, or general or specific inquiry or investigation to determine compliance with this Act, the Secretary shall have the authority to access, receive, and use any books, accounts, records, files, documents, information, or evidence, including, but not limited to, the following:

(1) criminal, civil, licensure, and administrative history information, including nonconviction data as specified in the Criminal Identification Act;

(2) personal history and experience information, including independent credit reports obtained from a consumer reporting agency described in Section 603(p) of the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act; and

(3) any other documents, information, or evidence the Secretary deems relevant to the inquiry or investigation, regardless of the location, possession, control, or custody of the documents, information, or evidence.

(b) For the purposes of investigating violations or complaints arising under this Act or for the purposes of examination, the Secretary may review, investigate, or examine any licensee, individual, or person subject to this Act as often as necessary in order to carry out the purposes of this Act. The Secretary may direct, subpoena, or order the attendance of, and examine under oath all persons; and order any person to produce records, files, and any other documents the Secretary deems relevant to an inquiry.

(c) Each person subject to this Act shall make available to the Secretary upon request the books and records relating to the operations of the person subject to this Act. The Secretary shall have access to those books and records and may interview the owners, officers, principals, employees, independent contractors, agents, vendors, and customers of any licensee or person subject to this Act.

(d) Each person subject to this Act shall make or compile reports or prepare other information as directed by the Secretary to carry out the purposes of this Section, including, but not limited to:

(1) accounting compilations;

(2) information lists and data concerning transactions in a format prescribed by the Secretary; or

(3) other information deemed necessary to carry out the purposes of this Section.

(e) In making any examination or investigation authorized by this Act, the Secretary may control access to any documents and records of the licensee or person under examination or investigation. The Secretary may take possession of the documents and records or otherwise take constructive control of the documents. During the period of control, no person shall remove or alter any of the documents or records, except in accordance with a court order or with the consent of the Secretary. Unless the Secretary has reasonable grounds to believe the documents or records of the licensee have been or are at risk of being altered or destroyed for purposes of concealing a violation of this Act, the licensee or owner of the documents and records shall have access to the documents or records as necessary to conduct its ordinary business affairs.

(f) In order to carry out the purposes of this Section, the Secretary may:

(1) retain attorneys, accountants, or other professionals and specialists as examiners, auditors, or investigators to conduct or assist in the conduct of examinations or investigations;

(2) enter into agreements or relationships with other government officials or regulatory associations to protect consumers, improve efficiencies, and reduce regulatory burden by sharing resources, standardized or uniform methods or procedures, and documents, records, information, or evidence obtained under this Section;

(3) use, hire, contract, or employ publicly or privately available analytical systems, methods, or software to examine or investigate the licensee, individual, or person subject to this Act;

(4) accept and rely on examination or investigation reports made by other government officials, within or outside this State; or

(5) accept audit reports made by an independent certified public accountant for the person subject to this Act and incorporate the audit report in the report of the examination, report of investigation, or other writing of the Secretary.

(g) The authority of this Section shall remain in effect, whether a person subject to this Act acts or claims to act under any licensing or registration law of this State or claims to act without authority.

(h) No licensee or person subject to investigation or examination under this Section may knowingly withhold, alter, abstract, remove, mutilate, destroy, hide, or conceal any books, records, computer records, or other information or take actions designed to delay or complicate review of records.