625 ILCS 27/ Renter’s Financial Responsibility and Protection Act.

(625 ILCS 27/1)

Sec. 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Renter's Financial Responsibility and Protection Act.

(Source: P.A. 90-113, eff. 7-14-97.)

(625 ILCS 27/5)

Sec. 5. Legislative findings. The General Assembly finds and declares the following:

(a) Amendments enacted in 1988 which limit negligent drivers' liability for damage to vehicles rented from motor vehicle rental companies to $200 have had the unintended, anti-consumer effect of unfairly transferring most of the costs of liability for renters' negligence to car rental companies.

(b) This transfer of liability from negligent renters has forced Illinois rental companies and dealers to experience significant financial losses in the form of actual costs to repair, service, and replace vehicles and loss of economic opportunity by being deprived of the rental use of damaged or destroyed rental cars; as a result, many Illinois vehicle rental companies in Illinois have been forced to close because of the current amendments, and high risk to capital threatens to close existing companies; economic losses have also resulted in Illinois renters paying daily and weekly vehicle rental rates almost two-fold higher than renters in other states, including those states surrounding Illinois.

(c) As the vast majority of renters in Illinois are non-Illinois residents, the increased damage costs of rental car companies and dealers are absorbed and paid by all Illinois consumers and business.

(d) The current law also threatens the public safety of all Illinois citizens as it has contributed to an almost three-fold increase in driver crash and fatality rates in Illinois.

(Source: P.A. 102-982, eff. 7-1-23.)

(625 ILCS 27/10)

Sec. 10. Definitions. As used in this Act:

"Rental Company" means a person or entity that rents private passenger vehicles to the public for 30 days or less.

"Renter" means a person or entity that obtains the use of a private passenger vehicle from a rental company under terms of a rental agreement.

"Rental Agreement" means an agreement for 30 days or less setting forth the terms and conditions governing the use of a private passenger vehicle provided by a rental company.

"Authorized Driver" means: the renter; the renter's spouse if the spouse is a licensed driver and satisfies the rental company's minimum age requirement; the renter's employer, employee, or co-worker if that person is a licensed driver, satisfies the rental company's minimum age requirement, and at the time of the rental is engaged in a business activity with the renter; any person who is expressly listed by the rental company on the rental agreement as an authorized driver; and any person driving directly to a medical or police facility under circumstances reasonably believed to constitute an emergency and who is a licensed driver.

"Damage Waiver" means a rental company's agreement not to hold an authorized driver liable for all or a part of any damage to or loss of a rented vehicle for which the renter may be liable pursuant to Section 6-305.2. "Damage Waiver" shall encompass within its meaning other similar terms used by rental companies, such as "Collision Damage Waiver", "Loss Damage Waiver", "Physical Damage Waiver", and the like.

(Source: P.A. 90-113, eff. 7-14-97.)

(625 ILCS 27/15)

Sec. 15. Prohibited practices.

(a) A rental company may not sell a damage waiver unless the renter agrees to the damage waiver in writing at or prior to the time the rental agreement is executed.

(b) A rental company may not void a damage waiver except for one or more of the following reasons:

(1) Damage or loss while the rental vehicle is used to carry persons or property for a charge or fee.

(2) Damage or loss during an organized or agreed upon racing or speed contest or demonstration or pushing or pulling activity in which the rental vehicle is actively involved.

(3) Damage or loss that could reasonably be expected from an intentional or criminal act of the driver other than a traffic infraction.

(4) Damage or loss to any rental vehicle resulting from any auto business operation, including but not limited to repairing, servicing, testing, washing, parking, storing, or selling of automobiles.

(5) Damage or loss occurring to a rental vehicle if the rental contract is based on fraudulent or material misrepresentation by the renter.

(6) Damage or loss arising out of the use of the rental vehicle outside the continental United States when such use is specifically prohibited in the rental agreement.

(7) Damage or loss occurring while the rental vehicle is operated by a driver not permitted under the rental agreement.

(8) Damage or loss occurring while the rental vehicle is operated by a driver under the influence of alcohol, other drug or drugs, intoxicating compound or compounds, or any combination thereof and convicted of violating subsection (a) of Section 11-501 of the Illinois Vehicle Code.

(9) Damage or loss to the rental vehicle if the rental vehicle is stolen and the renter fails to: (i) return the rental vehicle's ignition key and the key tag identifying the rental vehicle to the rental vehicle company; (ii) file a police report within the 24-hour period after discovery of the rental vehicle theft; and (iii) fully cooperate with the rental company, law enforcement agency, or any other authority in all matters connected to the investigation of the stolen rental vehicle.

(c) (Blank).

(d) (Blank).

(Source: P.A. 102-317, eff. 1-1-22.)

(625 ILCS 27/20)

Sec. 20. Disclosure notice and advertising requirements.

(a) Each renter who purchases a damage waiver that is not included in the base rental shall be provided the following disclosure notice:

NOTICE: This contract offers, for an additional charge, a collision damage waiver to cover your financial responsibility for damage to the rental vehicle. The purchase of a collision damage waiver is optional and may be declined. You are advised to carefully consider whether to sign this waiver if you have rental vehicle collision coverage provided by your credit card or collision insurance on your own vehicle. Before deciding whether to purchase the collision damage waiver, you may wish to determine whether your own vehicle insurance affords you coverage for damage to the rental vehicle and the amount of deductible under your own insurance coverage.

(b) The disclosure notice required in subsection (a) shall be made on the face of the rental agreement either by stamp, label, or as part of the written contract, shall be set apart in boldface type and in no smaller print than 10 point type, and shall include a space for the renter to acknowledge his or her receipt of the notice. The contract shall also include in boldface type and in no smaller print than 10 point type, in simple and readable language, any other conditions and exclusions applicable to the collision damage waiver.

(c) Any rental company who states or permits to be stated the rental cost of a rental motor vehicle in any advertisement shall state conspicuously, in plain language and in conjunction with the advertised rental cost of the vehicle, the daily rate of the applicable collision damage waiver, that the rate constitutes an additional daily charge to the renter, that the collision damage waiver is optional, and that prospective renters should examine their automobile insurance policies for rental vehicle coverage.

(1) When a written advertisement, including all print media, contains the statement of the rental cost of a vehicle, the disclosure required by this subsection shall be printed in type no less than 10 point type.

(2) When the video presentation of a television advertisement contains the written statement of the rental cost of a vehicle, the depiction of the disclosure required by this subsection shall be no less than one-third the size of the depiction of the rental cost.

(3) When a radio advertisement or the audio presentation of a television advertisement contains the statement of the rental cost of the vehicle, the oral statement of the rental cost shall be immediately accompanied by an oral statement of the disclosure required by this subsection.

(d) Any rental company that makes any oral statement, excluding telephonic communications, or written statement of the rental cost of a vehicle shall disclose, in plain language and in conjunction with that statement, the daily rate of the applicable collision damage waiver and that the rate constitutes an additional daily charge to the renter.

(e) Any rental company that offers the collision damage waiver option to a renter shall inform the renter in posted signs or in pamphlets, written in plain language, of all of the information described in Sections 15 through 20. The requirements of this subsection shall be deemed to be satisfied if the rental company places the pamphlets or posted signs prominently and conspicuously where the posted signs and pamphlets may be easily seen or reached by renters.

(Source: P.A. 90-113, eff. 7-14-97.)

(625 ILCS 27/25)

Sec. 25. Mandatory charges.

(a) As used in this Section, "mandatory charge" means any charge, surcharge, or fee in addition to the base rental rate for an item or service provided in connection with the rental transaction that the renter does not have the option of avoiding or declining and that is not otherwise imposed by law.

(b) A rental agreement containing any mandatory charge shall prominently display and fully disclose the charge separately on the face of the agreement.

(c) A mandatory charge shall also be prominently displayed and fully disclosed in all price advertising, price displays, price quotes, and price offers, including displays in computerized reservation systems.

(d) Notwithstanding the foregoing, a rental company may not impose or require the purchase of a damage waiver as a mandatory charge.

(Source: P.A. 90-113, eff. 7-14-97.)

(625 ILCS 27/900)

Sec. 900. (Amendatory provisions; text omitted).

(Source: P.A. 90-113, eff. 7-14-97; text omitted.)

(625 ILCS 27/999)

Sec. 999. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.

(Source: P.A. 90-113, eff. 7-14-97.)