Full Text of SB1270 95th General Assembly
SB1270 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2007 and 2008 SB1270
Introduced 2/9/2007, by Sen. Michael Noland SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
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Creates the Consumer Contract Plain Language Act. Requires that consumer
contracts involving $100,000 or less meet certain criteria to be clear and
readable. Authorizes the Attorney General to bring an action to restrain the
use of a consumer contract that violates the Act.
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| FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY | |
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A BILL FOR
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SB1270 |
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LRB095 04393 LCT 24438 b |
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| AN ACT concerning consumer contracts.
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, | 3 |
| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the | 5 |
| Consumer Contract
Plain Language Act.
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| Section 5. Definitions. As used in this Act, unless the | 7 |
| context clearly
requires otherwise:
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| "Consumer" means an individual who, primarily for | 9 |
| personal, family, or
household purposes, either: (i) gives or | 10 |
| promises to give money or other
consideration
in exchange for | 11 |
| an interest in services or real or personal property, including
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| money, or (ii) leases residential premises for a term not | 13 |
| exceeding 3 years.
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| "Consumer contract" means a written contract with a | 15 |
| consumer in which the
price, excluding interest or finance | 16 |
| charges, is $100,000 or less.
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| Section 10. Plain language required. Except as provided in | 18 |
| Section 15,
every consumer contract made after the effective | 19 |
| date of this Act shall meet
all of the following criteria:
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| (1) The contract shall adequately inform the consumer | 21 |
| of the rights and
duties fixed by the contract.
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| (2) The contract shall be sufficiently clear and |
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LRB095 04393 LCT 24438 b |
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| readable for the ordinary
reader, using, so far as is | 2 |
| practical, words with common, everyday meanings.
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| (3) The contract shall be appropriately divided into | 4 |
| sections and
paragraphs, and the sections shall contain | 5 |
| captions.
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| (4) The contract shall be printed in 10-point or larger | 7 |
| type, with at
least one point of leading between lines, and | 8 |
| in ink that contrasts
sufficiently with the paper.
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| Section 15. Exceptions. This Act does not prohibit the use | 10 |
| of the following
in consumer contracts:
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| (1) Words or phrases, or forms of agreement, required | 12 |
| by State or federal
law or by rule or regulation of a State | 13 |
| or federal governmental
instrumentality.
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| (2) Technical terms used to describe a service or | 15 |
| property that is the
subject of the contract if (i) those | 16 |
| terms are customarily used by consumers
in connection with | 17 |
| the service or property or (ii) there is no sufficiently
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| clear and readable substitute for those terms.
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| Section 20. Violation.
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| (a) A violation of Section 10 does not render a consumer | 21 |
| contract void or
voidable, nor does it constitute a defense to | 22 |
| an action or proceeding for
breach of the contract or to | 23 |
| enforce the contract.
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| (b) If the Attorney General has reason to believe that a |
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LRB095 04393 LCT 24438 b |
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| business entity is
using or has used a consumer contract that | 2 |
| violates Section 10 and determines
that an action under this | 3 |
| subsection would be in the public interest, the
Attorney | 4 |
| General may bring an action, in the name of the People of the | 5 |
| State of
Illinois, against that business entity to restrain the | 6 |
| use of that consumer
contract.
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