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| | SB0769 Engrossed | | LRB102 04587 RLC 14606 b |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning criminal law.
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| 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, |
| 3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
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| 4 | | Section 5. The Home Repair Fraud Act is amended by |
| 5 | | changing Section 3 as follows:
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| 6 | | (815 ILCS 515/3) (from Ch. 121 1/2, par. 1603)
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| 7 | | Sec. 3. Home Repair Fraud.
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| 8 | | (a) A person commits the offense of home repair fraud when |
| 9 | | he knowingly
enters into an agreement or contract, written or |
| 10 | | oral, with a person for
home repair, and he knowingly:
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| 11 | | (1) Misrepresents a material fact relating to the |
| 12 | | terms of the contract
or agreement or the preexisting or |
| 13 | | existing condition of any portion of the
property |
| 14 | | involved, or creates or confirms another's impression |
| 15 | | which is
false and which he does not believe to be true, or |
| 16 | | promises performance
which he does not intend to perform |
| 17 | | or knows will not be performed; or
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| 18 | | (2) uses or employs any deception, false pretense or |
| 19 | | false promises in
order to induce, encourage or solicit |
| 20 | | such person to enter into any
contract or agreement; or
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| 21 | | (3) enters into an unconscionable agreement or |
| 22 | | contract requiring
payment to the contractor of at least |
| 23 | | $4,000. A contract is unconscionable
within the meaning of |
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| 1 | | this Act when an unreasonable difference exists
between |
| 2 | | the value of the services, materials and work to be |
| 3 | | performed and
the amount charged for those services, |
| 4 | | materials and work. For purposes of
this Section, prima |
| 5 | | facie evidence shall exist that the contract or
agreement |
| 6 | | is unconscionable if the total payment called for by the |
| 7 | | contract
or agreement is in excess of four times the fair |
| 8 | | market value for those
services, materials and work; or
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| 9 | | (4) fails to comply with the provisions of "An Act in |
| 10 | | relation to
the use of an assumed name in the conduct or |
| 11 | | transaction of business in
this State", approved July 17, |
| 12 | | 1941, as amended, and misrepresents or
conceals either his |
| 13 | | real name, the name of his business, or his business
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| 14 | | address.
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| 15 | | (b) A person commits the offense of home repair fraud when |
| 16 | | he knowingly:
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| 17 | | (1) damages the property of a person with the intent |
| 18 | | to enter
into an agreement or contract for home repair; or
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| 19 | | (2) misrepresents himself or another to be an employee |
| 20 | | or agent of any
unit of the federal, State or municipal |
| 21 | | government or any other
governmental unit, or an employee |
| 22 | | or agent of any public utility, with the
intent to cause a |
| 23 | | person to enter into, with himself or another, any
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| 24 | | contract or agreement for home repair; or .
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| 25 | | (3) promises performance which the person knows will |
| 26 | | not be completed at any time during the performance of the |
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| 1 | | service. |
| 2 | | (c) For purposes of subsection (a), paragraph (1), it |
| 3 | | shall be a
rebuttable presumption of intent or knowledge that |
| 4 | | a person promises
performance which he does not intend to |
| 5 | | perform and knows will not be
performed when, after no |
| 6 | | performance or no substantial performance of a
contract or |
| 7 | | agreement for home repair, he fails or refuses to return
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| 8 | | payments made by the victim and he:
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| 9 | | (1) fails to acknowledge or respond to a written |
| 10 | | demand for commencement
or completion of home repair |
| 11 | | within 10 days after such demand is mailed or
presented to |
| 12 | | him by the victim or by the victim's legal representative |
| 13 | | or
by a law enforcement or consumer agency acting on |
| 14 | | behalf of the victim; or
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| 15 | | (2) fails to notify the victim in writing of a change |
| 16 | | of business name
or address prior to the completion of the |
| 17 | | home repair; or
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| 18 | | (3) makes false statements or representations to the |
| 19 | | victim to excuse
his non-performance or non-substantial |
| 20 | | performance; or
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| 21 | | (4) uses deception to obtain the victim's consent to |
| 22 | | modification of the
terms of the original contract or |
| 23 | | agreement; or
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| 24 | | (5) fails to employ qualified personnel necessary to |
| 25 | | perform
the home repair; or
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| 26 | | (6) fails to order or purchase the basic materials |
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| 1 | | required for
performance of the home repair; or
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| 2 | | (7) fails to comply with municipal, county, State or |
| 3 | | federal
regulations or codes relating to the performance |
| 4 | | of home repair.
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| 5 | | Intent and knowledge shall be determined by an evaluation |
| 6 | | of all
circumstances surrounding a transaction and the |
| 7 | | determination shall not be
limited to the time of contract or |
| 8 | | agreement.
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| 9 | | Substantial performance shall not include work performed |
| 10 | | in a manner
of little or no value or work that fails to comply |
| 11 | | with the appropriate
municipal, county, State or federal |
| 12 | | regulations or codes.
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| 13 | | (Source: P.A. 87-820.)
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