103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024
SB2764

 

Introduced 1/16/2024, by Sen. Doris Turner

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
815 ILCS 601/10

    Amends the Automatic Contract Renewal Act. Provides that any person, firm, partnership, association, or corporation that sells or offers to sell any products or services to a consumer pursuant to a contract that includes a free gift or a trial period of the product or service that lasts 15 days or longer, where such contract automatically renews unless the consumer cancels the contract, shall notify the consumer no less than 2 weeks before the cancellation deadline as described by the automatic renewal offer terms. Provides that if the person, firm, partnership, association, or corporation has the consumer's email address, this notice shall be sent by email.


LRB103 36659 SPS 66768 b

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

SB2764LRB103 36659 SPS 66768 b

1    AN ACT concerning business.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Automatic Contract Renewal Act is amended
5by changing Section 10 as follows:
 
6    (815 ILCS 601/10)
7    Sec. 10. Automatic renewal; requirements.
8    (a) Any person, firm, partnership, association, or
9corporation that sells or offers to sell any products or
10services to a consumer pursuant to a contract, where such
11contract automatically renews unless the consumer cancels the
12contract, shall:
13        (i) disclose the automatic renewal offer terms clearly
14    and conspicuously in the contract before the subscription
15    or purchasing agreement is fulfilled and in visual
16    proximity, or in the case of an offer conveyed by voice, in
17    temporal proximity, to the request for consent to the
18    offer;
19        (ii) not charge the consumer's credit or debit card or
20    other payment mechanism for an automatic renewal service
21    without first obtaining the consumer's consent to the
22    contract containing the automatic renewal offer terms;
23        (iii) provide an acknowledgment that includes the

 

 

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1    automatic renewal offer terms, cancellation policy, and
2    information regarding how to cancel, which may be
3    accomplished by linking to a resource that provides
4    instructions that account for different platforms and
5    services, in a manner that is capable of being retained by
6    the consumer; and
7        (iv) if the offer includes a free gift or trial,
8    disclose how to cancel the contract, which may be
9    accomplished by linking to a resource that provides
10    instructions that account for different platforms and
11    services, and allow the consumer to cancel before the
12    consumer pays for the good or services.
13    (a-5) Any person, firm, partnership, association, or
14corporation that sells or offers to sell any products or
15services to a consumer pursuant to a contract that includes a
16free gift or a trial period of the product or service that
17lasts 15 days or longer, where such contract automatically
18renews unless the consumer cancels the contract, shall notify
19the consumer no less than 2 weeks before the cancellation
20deadline as described by the automatic renewal offer terms. If
21the person, firm, partnership, association, or corporation has
22the consumer's email address, this notice shall be sent by
23email.
24    (b) Any person, firm, partnership, association, or
25corporation that sells or offers to sell any products or
26services to a consumer pursuant to a contract, where such

 

 

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1contract term is a specified term of 12 months or more, and
2where such contract automatically renews for a specified term
3of more than one month unless the consumer cancels the
4contract, shall notify the consumer in writing of the
5automatic renewal. Written notice shall be provided to the
6consumer no less than 30 days and no more than 60 days before
7the cancellation deadline pursuant to the automatic renewal
8offer terms. Such written notice shall disclose clearly and
9conspicuously, in a retainable form:
10        (i) that unless the consumer cancels the contract it
11    will automatically renew;
12        (ii) a mechanism for cancelling the contract, which
13    shall be offered in a manner in which the consumer
14    commonly interacts with the business; and
15        (iii) the deadline by which the consumer must cancel
16    in order to avoid being charged for a subsequent term.
17    (b-5) A person, firm, partnership, association, or
18corporation that makes an automatic renewal offer or
19continuous service offer online shall provide a toll-free
20telephone number, electronic mail address, a postal address if
21the seller directly bills the consumer, or another
22cost-effective, timely, and easy-to-use mechanism for
23cancellation that shall be described in the notice required in
24subsection (b). A consumer who accepts an automatic renewal or
25continuous service offer online must be allowed to terminate
26the automatic renewal or continuous service exclusively

 

 

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1online, which may include a termination email formatted and
2provided by the business that a consumer can send to the
3business without additional information, or a link to a
4website or other online service consumers can use to cancel.
5    (c) A person, firm, partnership, association, or
6corporation will not be liable for a violation of this Act or
7the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act if
8such person, firm, partnership, association, or corporation
9demonstrates that, as part of its routine business practice:
10        (i) it has established and implemented written
11    procedures to comply with this Act and enforces compliance
12    with the procedures;
13        (ii) any failure to comply with this Act is the result
14    of error; and
15        (iii) where an error has caused a failure to comply
16    with this Act, it provides a full refund or credit for all
17    amounts billed to or paid by the consumer from the date of
18    the renewal until the date of the termination of the
19    account, or the date of the subsequent notice of renewal,
20    whichever occurs first.
21(Source: P.A. 102-517, eff. 1-1-22; 103-70, eff. 1-1-24.)