Full Text of SB3200 97th General Assembly
SB3200 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
| | 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2011 and 2012 SB3200 Introduced 2/1/2012, by Sen. Michael Noland SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
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Creates the Consumer Contract Plain Language Act. Requires consumer contracts to be written in a simple, clear, understandable, and easily readable manner. Establishes the requirements necessary for compliance with the Act. Authorizes the Attorney General to enforce the Act. Provides remedies, including statutory damages. Effective immediately.
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| | | FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY | |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning consumer contract protection in | 2 | | Illinois.
| 3 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
| 4 | | represented in the General Assembly:
| 5 | | Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the | 6 | | Consumer Contract Plain Language Act. | 7 | | Section 5. Definitions. As used in this Act: | 8 | | "Consumer" means an individual who borrows, buys, or leases | 9 | | services or products under a consumer contract.
| 10 | | "Consumer contract" or "contract" means a written | 11 | | agreement between a consumer and a party, acting in the usual | 12 | | course of business, for products or services made or performed | 13 | | for primarily personal, family, or household purposes. A | 14 | | "consumer contract" includes, but is not limited to, standard | 15 | | form contracts, consumer agreements, forms, or terms.
| 16 | | "Covered entity" means a person who utilizes consumer | 17 | | contracts in the usual course of business.
| 18 | | "Transaction" means a business transaction that occurs | 19 | | between a consumer and a covered entity for the exchange of | 20 | | products or services through the use of a consumer contract.
| 21 | | Section 10. Scope. This Act applies to all consumer | 22 | | contracts. |
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| 1 | | Section 15. Plain language. A contract entered into on or | 2 | | after the effective date of this Act shall be written in a | 3 | | simple, clear, understandable, and easily readable manner. In | 4 | | determining whether a contract as a whole has been written in a | 5 | | simple, clear, understandable, and easily readable manner, a | 6 | | court, the Attorney General, or proper regulatory agency, shall | 7 | | apply the provisions of Section 20. | 8 | | Section 20. Requirements for contracts. | 9 | | (a) For a contract to be simple, clear, understandable, and | 10 | | easily readable, it must be written in plain language. A | 11 | | contract is written in plain language if: | 12 | | (1) it is written in a clear and coherent manner using | 13 | | words with common and everyday meanings;
use of technical | 14 | | terms or words of art is not, however, in and of itself a | 15 | | violation of this Act; | 16 | | (2) it is appropriately divided and captioned by its | 17 | | various sections;
| 18 | | (3) it uses type of readable size and no less than | 19 | | 8-point font;
| 20 | | (4) it uses layout and spacing that separate the | 21 | | paragraphs and sections of the contract from each other and | 22 | | from the borders of the paper or medium upon which it is | 23 | | displayed;
| 24 | | (5) it uses simple and active verb forms;
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| 1 | | (6) it uses ink that contrasts with the paper or medium | 2 | | upon which it is displayed;
| 3 | | (7) it does not contain a provision that permits the | 4 | | unilateral modification of the contract by the covered | 5 | | entity to the disadvantage of the consumer without explicit | 6 | | consumer consent after the execution of the contract; | 7 | | (8) it uses a table of contents or alphabetical index | 8 | | and definitional glossary for all contracts with more than | 9 | | 2,000 words;
and | 10 | | (9) conditions and exceptions to the main promise of | 11 | | the contract are given prominence equal to that given to | 12 | | the main promise and are in at least 10-point bold type. | 13 | | (b) A contract may not be simple, clear, understandable, or | 14 | | easily readable if it contains one or more the following:
| 15 | | (1) cross references that are confusing;
| 16 | | (2) references to terms not included in the consumer | 17 | | contract that are necessary to understand its material | 18 | | provisions;
| 19 | | (3) sentences that are of greater length than | 20 | | necessary;
| 21 | | (4) sentences that contain double negatives and | 22 | | exceptions to exceptions;
| 23 | | (5) sentences and sections that are in a confusing or | 24 | | illogical order;
| 25 | | (6) the use of words with obsolete meanings or words | 26 | | that differ in their legal meaning from their common, |
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| 1 | | ordinary meaning;
and | 2 | | (7) frequent use of Old English and Middle English | 3 | | words and Latin and French phrases.
| 4 | | Section 25. Content of contracts. A covered entity shall | 5 | | include a clear and conspicuous description of the terms of the | 6 | | contract, including the total cost of all fees and other | 7 | | charges or waiver of rights in connection with the transaction, | 8 | | in English and in the language in which the transaction was | 9 | | conducted. | 10 | | Section 30. Enforcement. The Illinois Attorney General may | 11 | | bring an action to enforce this Act and to obtain injunctive | 12 | | relief in any court of competent jurisdiction not later than 5 | 13 | | years after the date of the violation. | 14 | | Section 35. Safe harbor. There shall be no liability under | 15 | | Section 40 if any of the following occurs: | 16 | | (1) the consumer wrote the contract or the part of it | 17 | | that violates this Act; or
| 18 | | (2) the creditor, seller, or lessor made a good faith | 19 | | and reasonable effort to comply with this Act.
| 20 | | Section 40. Penalties. A person who knowingly violates the | 21 | | requirements of Section 20 shall be liable to the consumer for | 22 | | the following: |
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| 1 | | (1) compensation in an amount equal to the value of any | 2 | | actual loss caused by the violation of this Act;
| 3 | | (2) statutory damages of the lesser of $1000 or the | 4 | | total amount of the contract;
| 5 | | (3) court costs;
| 6 | | (4) reasonable attorney's fees; and
| 7 | | (5) any equitable and other relief ordered by the | 8 | | court.
| 9 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 10 | | becoming law.
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