| |||||||
| |||||||
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 5. The Automatic Contract Renewal Act is amended | ||||||
5 | by changing Section 10 as follows: | ||||||
6 | (815 ILCS 601/10) | ||||||
7 | Sec. 10. Automatic renewal; requirements. | ||||||
8 | (a) Any person, firm, partnership, association, or | ||||||
9 | corporation that sells or offers to sell any products or | ||||||
10 | services to a consumer pursuant to a contract, where such | ||||||
11 | contract automatically renews unless the consumer cancels the | ||||||
12 | contract, 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 |
| |||||||
| |||||||
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 | ||||||
14 | corporation that sells or offers to sell any products or | ||||||
15 | services to a consumer pursuant to a contract that includes a | ||||||
16 | free trial or a promotional period of the product or service | ||||||
17 | that lasts 15 days or longer, where such contract | ||||||
18 | automatically renews unless the consumer cancels the contract, | ||||||
19 | shall notify the consumer during the free trial or the | ||||||
20 | promotional period no less than 3 days before the cancellation | ||||||
21 | deadline as described by the automatic renewal offer terms. | ||||||
22 | The person, firm, partnership, association, or corporation | ||||||
23 | shall send the notice in a method in which the consumer is | ||||||
24 | accustomed to interacting with the person, firm, partnership, | ||||||
25 | association, or corporation. | ||||||
26 | (b) Any person, firm, partnership, association, or |
| |||||||
| |||||||
1 | corporation that sells or offers to sell any products or | ||||||
2 | services to a consumer pursuant to a contract, where such | ||||||
3 | contract term is a specified term of 12 months or more, and | ||||||
4 | where such contract automatically renews for a specified term | ||||||
5 | of more than one month unless the consumer cancels the | ||||||
6 | contract, shall notify the consumer in writing of the | ||||||
7 | automatic renewal. Written notice shall be provided to the | ||||||
8 | consumer no less than 30 days and no more than 60 days before | ||||||
9 | the cancellation deadline pursuant to the automatic renewal | ||||||
10 | offer terms. Such written notice shall disclose clearly and | ||||||
11 | conspicuously, in a retainable form: | ||||||
12 | (i) that unless the consumer cancels the contract it | ||||||
13 | will automatically renew; | ||||||
14 | (ii) a mechanism for cancelling the contract, which | ||||||
15 | shall be offered in a manner in which the consumer | ||||||
16 | commonly interacts with the business; and | ||||||
17 | (iii) the deadline by which the consumer must cancel | ||||||
18 | in order to avoid being charged for a subsequent term. | ||||||
19 | (b-5) A person, firm, partnership, association, or | ||||||
20 | corporation that makes an automatic renewal offer or | ||||||
21 | continuous service offer online shall provide a toll-free | ||||||
22 | telephone number, electronic mail address, a postal address if | ||||||
23 | the seller directly bills the consumer, or another | ||||||
24 | cost-effective, timely, and easy-to-use mechanism for | ||||||
25 | cancellation that shall be described in the notice required in | ||||||
26 | subsection (b). A consumer who accepts an automatic renewal or |
| |||||||
| |||||||
1 | continuous service offer online must be allowed to terminate | ||||||
2 | the automatic renewal or continuous service exclusively | ||||||
3 | online, which may include a termination email formatted and | ||||||
4 | provided by the business that a consumer can send to the | ||||||
5 | business without additional information, or a link to a | ||||||
6 | website or other online service consumers can use to cancel. | ||||||
7 | (c) A person, firm, partnership, association, or | ||||||
8 | corporation will not be liable for a violation of this Act or | ||||||
9 | the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act if | ||||||
10 | such person, firm, partnership, association, or corporation | ||||||
11 | demonstrates that, as part of its routine business practice: | ||||||
12 | (i) it has established and implemented written | ||||||
13 | procedures to comply with this Act and enforces compliance | ||||||
14 | with the procedures; | ||||||
15 | (ii) any failure to comply with this Act is the result | ||||||
16 | of error; and | ||||||
17 | (iii) where an error has caused a failure to comply | ||||||
18 | with this Act, it provides a full refund or credit for all | ||||||
19 | amounts billed to or paid by the consumer from the date of | ||||||
20 | the renewal until the date of the termination of the | ||||||
21 | account, or the date of the subsequent notice of renewal, | ||||||
22 | whichever occurs first. | ||||||
23 | (Source: P.A. 102-517, eff. 1-1-22; 103-70, eff. 1-1-24 .) |