State of Illinois
92nd General Assembly
Legislation

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92_HB0573

 
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 1        AN ACT in relation to contracts.

 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    Illinois Fair Bargain Act of 2001.

 6        Section 5.  Definitions.  In this Act:
 7        "Standard form contract or lease"  means  a  contract  or
 8    lease  prepared  in  writing  by  a party for whom its use is
 9    routine in business transactions with consumers of  goods  or
10    services, borrowers, tenants, or employees.
11        "Disabling   civil  dispute  clause"  means  a  provision
12    modifying or limiting procedural rights necessary  or  useful
13    to   a   consumer,  borrower,  tenant,  or  employee  in  the
14    enforcement of substantive rights against a party drafting  a
15    standard  form  contract or lease, such as a clause requiring
16    the consumer, borrower, tenant, or employee to:
17             (1)  assert any claim against the party who prepared
18        the form in a forum that is less convenient, more costly,
19        or  more  dilatory  than  the  Illinois  courts  for  the
20        resolution of the dispute; or
21             (2)  assume a risk of liability for the  legal  fees
22        of  the  party preparing the contract; however, a seller,
23        lessor, or lender may exact  from  a  buyer,  tenant,  or
24        borrower  an obligation to reimburse the seller or lender
25        for a reasonable fee paid  to  secure  enforcement  of  a
26        promise to pay money; or
27             (3)  forgo  any  rights provided to litigants in the
28        State of Illinois; or
29             (4)  present evidence to a purported neutral  person
30        who  may  reasonably  be  expected  to  regard  the party
31        preparing the contract as more  likely  to  be  a  future
 
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 1        employer of the neutral; or
 2             (5)  forgo  recourse  to  appeal from a decision not
 3        based on substantial evidence or disregarding his or  her
 4        legal rights; or
 5             (6)  decline to participate in a class action; or
 6             (7)  forgo   an  award  of  attorney's  fees,  civil
 7        penalties, or of multiple damages otherwise available  in
 8        a judicial proceeding.

 9        Section  10.  Voidable clauses in contracts.  A disabling
10    civil dispute clause in a standard form contract or lease  is
11    unconscionable  and  is  voidable  by the consumer, borrower,
12    tenant, or employee.  Upon request of a party to the contract
13    or lease, the court  must  declare  void  a  disabling  civil
14    dispute  clause  in  a  standard  form  contract or lease and
15    prohibit the enforcement of that provision.

16        Section 15.  Exemptions.  This Act does not apply to  any
17    contract:
18             (1)  for  the  sale  or lease of property or for the
19        delivery  of  services  having  a  value  in  excess   of
20        $200,000, or for a loan in excess of that amount; or
21             (2)  of  employment  providing  for  compensation in
22        excess of $100,000 a year; or
23             (3)  that is a commercial letter of credit.

24        Section 20.  Arbitration.  Nothing in this Act  precludes
25    parties from agreeing to the arbitration of a future dispute;
26    provided  that  the  arbitration agreement does not impose on
27    any  consumer,  borrower,  tenant,  or  employee   procedural
28    disabilities  such  as  those enumerated in Section 5 of this
29    Act as unconscionable.

30        Section 95.  Severability.  The provisions  of  this  Act
 
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 1    are severable under Section 1.31 of the Statute on Statutes.

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