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| 1 | AN ACT concerning business. | ||||||
| 2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, | ||||||
| 3 | represented in the General Assembly: | ||||||
| 4 | Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the | ||||||
| 5 | Service Appointment Fairness Act. | ||||||
| 6 | Section 5. Service appointment times. | ||||||
| 7 | (a) If a person provides a service to a consumer, | ||||||
| 8 | including a repair or installation service, and the provision | ||||||
| 9 | of the service requires entry to the consumer's dwelling or | ||||||
| 10 | requires the consumer to be present at the consumer's property | ||||||
| 11 | for the service to be provided, the service provider shall: | ||||||
| 12 | (1) schedule an appointment with the consumer; and | ||||||
| 13 | (2) provide the consumer with reasonable notice of an | ||||||
| 14 | estimated time or range of times during which the service | ||||||
| 15 | provider will arrive to provide the service. | ||||||
| 16 | (b) If the estimated range of time provided under | ||||||
| 17 | paragraph (2) of subsection (a) exceeds 2 hours, the service | ||||||
| 18 | provider shall notify the consumer by telephone no later than | ||||||
| 19 | one hour before the service provider's anticipated arrival | ||||||
| 20 | time. The notice shall state the specific time at which the | ||||||
| 21 | service provider expects to arrive. If the consumer does not | ||||||
| 22 | answer the telephone, the service provider may leave a | ||||||
| 23 | voicemail message to satisfy the requirements of this | ||||||
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| 1 | subsection. | ||||||
| 2 | (c) If the provider fails to satisfy the requirements of | ||||||
| 3 | paragraph (2) of subsection (a), fails to satisfy the | ||||||
| 4 | requirements of subsection (b), or fails to arrive within 30 | ||||||
| 5 | minutes of the time stated in the telephone call or voicemail | ||||||
| 6 | message as provided in subsection (b), the provider shall not | ||||||
| 7 | charge the consumer any fee or additional charge if the | ||||||
| 8 | consumer is not present when the service provider arrives. | ||||||
| 9 | Section 10. Enforcement. | ||||||
| 10 | (a) The Attorney General or the State's Attorney of any | ||||||
| 11 | county in this State may bring an action in the name of the | ||||||
| 12 | People of this State against any person to restrain and | ||||||
| 13 | prevent any pattern or practice in violation of subsection (c) | ||||||
| 14 | of Section 5. In the enforcement of subsection (c) of Section | ||||||
| 15 | 5, the Attorney General or the State's Attorney may accept an | ||||||
| 16 | assurance of voluntary compliance from anyone engaged in any | ||||||
| 17 | conduct, act, or practice deemed in violation of subsection | ||||||
| 18 | (c) of Section 5. Failure to perform the terms of any such | ||||||
| 19 | assurance constitutes prima facie evidence of a violation of | ||||||
| 20 | subsection (c) of Section 5. | ||||||
| 21 | (b) A violation of subsection (c) of Section 5 constitutes | ||||||
| 22 | an unlawful practice under the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive | ||||||
| 23 | Business Practices Act. All remedies, penalties, and authority | ||||||
| 24 | granted to the Attorney General or the State's Attorney by the | ||||||
| 25 | Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act shall be | ||||||
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| 1 | available to the Attorney General or the State's Attorney for | ||||||
| 2 | the enforcement of subsection (c) of Section 5. | ||||||
| 3 | Section 15. Action for actual damages. Any person who | ||||||
| 4 | suffers actual damage as a result of a violation of subsection | ||||||
| 5 | (c) of Section 5 may bring an action under Section 10a of the | ||||||
| 6 | Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act. | ||||||
| 7 | Section 90. The Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business | ||||||
| 8 | Practices Act is amended by adding Section 2MMMM as follows: | ||||||
| 9 | (815 ILCS 505/2MMMM new) | ||||||
| 10 | Sec. 2MMMM. Violations of the Service Appointment Fairness | ||||||
| 11 | Act. Any person who violates subsection (c) of Section 5 of the | ||||||
| 12 | Service Appointment Fairness Act commits an unlawful practice | ||||||
| 13 | within the meaning of this Act. | ||||||