HB3704 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB098 14209 MLW 48808 b

98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2013 and 2014
HB3704

Introduced , by Rep. La Shawn K. Ford

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

625 ILCS 5/6-305

from Ch. 95 1/2, par. 6-305

Amends the Illinois Vehicle Code. Provides that a person renting a motor vehicle to another must provide a full tank of fuel or else the renter may not be charged for refueling the vehicle upon its return. Requires the renter and the person renting the vehicle, or their agent, to indicate the fuel level at the time of rental on the rental agreement. Provides that the rental agreement must include a notice that the renter may not be charged for refueling unless the vehicle had a full tank of gas at the time of the rental.

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning transportation.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Illinois Vehicle Code is amended by changing Section 6-305 as follows:

(625 ILCS 5/6-305) (from Ch. 95 1/2, par. 6-305)

Sec. 6-305. Renting motor vehicle to another.

(a) No person shall rent a motor vehicle to any other person unless the latter person, or a driver designated by a nondriver with disabilities and meeting any minimum age and driver's record requirements that are uniformly applied by the person renting a motor vehicle, is then duly licensed hereunder or, in the case of a nonresident, then duly licensed under the laws of the State or country of his residence unless the State or country of his residence does not require that a driver be licensed.

(b) No person shall rent a motor vehicle to another until he has inspected the drivers license of the person to whom the vehicle is to be rented, or by whom it is to be driven, and compared and verified the signature thereon with the signature of such person written in his presence unless, in the case of a nonresident, the State or country wherein the nonresident resides does not require that a driver be licensed.

(c) No person shall rent a motorcycle to another unless the latter person is then duly licensed hereunder as a motorcycle operator, and in the case of a nonresident, then duly licensed under the laws of the State or country of his residence, unless the State or country of his residence does not require that a driver be licensed.

(c-1) A rental car company that rents a motor vehicle shall ensure that the renter is provided with an emergency telephone number to personnel capable of fielding roadside assistance and other customer service inquiries, including the ability to provide the caller with the telephone number of the location from which the vehicle was rented, if requested by the caller. If an owner's manual is not available in the vehicle at the time of the rental, an owner's manual for that vehicle or a similar model shall be accessible by the personnel answering the emergency telephone number for assistance with inquiries about the operation of the vehicle.

(d) (Blank).

(e) (Blank).

(f) Subject to subsection (l), any person who rents a motor vehicle to another shall only advertise, quote, and charge a rental rate that includes the entire amount except taxes, a mileage charge, and airport concession charge, if any, which a renter must pay to hire or lease the vehicle for the period of time to which the rental rate applies. The person must provide, on the request of the renter, based on the available information, an estimated total of the daily rental rate, including all applicable taxes, fees, and other charges, or an estimated total rental charge, based on the return date of the vehicle noted on the rental agreement. Further, if the rental agreement does not already provide an estimated total rental charge, the following statement must be included in the rental agreement:

"NOTICE: UNDER ILLINOIS LAW, YOU MAY REQUEST, BASED ON AVAILABLE INFORMATION, AN ESTIMATED TOTAL DAILY RENTAL RATE, INCLUDING TAXES, FEES, AND OTHER CHARGES, OR AN ESTIMATED TOTAL RENTAL CHARGE, BASED ON THE VEHICLE RETURN DATE NOTED ON THIS AGREEMENT."

Such person shall not charge in addition to the rental rate, taxes, mileage charge, and airport concession charge, if any, any fee which must be paid by the renter as a condition of hiring or leasing the vehicle, such as, but not limited to, required fuel or airport surcharges, nor any fee for transporting the renter to the location where the rented vehicle will be delivered to the renter. In addition to the rental rate, taxes, mileage charge, and airport concession charge, if any, such person may charge for an item or service provided in connection with a particular rental transaction if the renter can avoid incurring the charge by choosing not to obtain or utilize the optional item or service. Items and services for which such person may impose an additional charge include, but are not limited to, optional insurance and accessories requested by the renter, service charges incident to the renter's optional return of the vehicle to a location other than the location where the vehicle was hired or leased, and charges for refueling the vehicle at the conclusion of the rental transaction in the event the renter did not return the vehicle with as much fuel as was in the fuel tank at the beginning of the rental. "Airport concession charge" means a charge or fee imposed and collected from a renter to reimburse the motor vehicle rental company for the concession fee it is required to pay to a local government corporate authority or airport authority to rent motor vehicles at the airport facility. The airport concession charge is in addition to any customer facility charge or any other charge.

(f-5) No person shall rent a motor vehicle without a full tank of fuel at the beginning of the rental to another, unless the renter will not be charged for refueling the vehicle at the conclusion of the rental transaction. The rental agreement must include a section indicating the level of fuel in the motor vehicle being rented, and this section must be signed by both the renter and the person renting the vehicle, or their agent, attesting that the indicated level of fuel is correct. The rental agreement must contain the following statement:

"NOTICE: UNDER ILLINOIS LAW, YOU MAY NOT BE CHARGED FOR FAILING TO REFUEL THE MOTOR VEHICLE UNLESS THE VEHICLE'S FUEL TANK WAS FULL AT THE TIME OF RENTAL."

(g) Every person renting a motor vehicle to another shall keep a record of the registration number of the motor vehicle so rented, the name and address of the person to whom the vehicle is rented, the number of the license, if any, of said latter person, and the date and place when and where the license, if any, was issued. Such record shall be open to inspection by any police officer or designated agent of the Secretary of State.

(h) A person licensed as a new car dealer under Section 5-101 of this Code shall not be subject to the provisions of this Section regarding the rental of private passenger motor vehicles when providing, free of charge, temporary substitute vehicles for customers to operate during a period when a customer's vehicle, which is either leased or owned by that customer, is being repaired, serviced, replaced or otherwise made unavailable to the customer in accordance with an agreement with the licensed new car dealer or vehicle manufacturer, so long as the customer orally or in writing is made aware that the temporary substitute vehicle will be covered by his or her insurance policy and the customer shall only be liable to the extent of any amount deductible from such insurance coverage in accordance with the terms of the policy.

(i) This Section, except the requirements of subsection (g), also applies to rental agreements of 30 continuous days or less involving a motor vehicle that was delivered by an out of State person or business to a renter in this State.

(j) A public airport may, if approved by its local government corporate authorities or its airport authority, impose a customer facility charge upon customers of rental car companies for the purposes of financing, designing, constructing, operating, and maintaining consolidated car rental facilities and common use transportation equipment and facilities, which are used to transport the customer, connecting consolidated car rental facilities with other airport facilities.

Notwithstanding subsection (f) of this Section, the customer facility charge shall be collected by the rental car company as a separate charge, and clearly indicated as a separate charge on the rental agreement and invoice. Facility charges shall be immediately deposited into a trust account for the benefit of the airport and remitted at the direction of the airport, but not more often than once per month. The charge shall be uniformly calculated on a per-contract or per-day basis. Facility charges imposed by the airport may not exceed the reasonable costs of financing, designing, constructing, operating, and maintaining the consolidated car rental facilities and common use transportation equipment and facilities and may not be used for any other purpose.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the charges collected under this Section are not subject to retailer occupation, sales, use, or transaction taxes.

(k) When a rental car company states a rental rate in any of its rate advertisements, its proprietary computer reservation systems, or its in-person quotations intended to apply to an airport rental, a company that collects from its customers a customer facility charge for that rental under subsection (j) shall do all of the following:

(1) Clearly and conspicuously disclose in any radio, television, or other electronic media advertisements the existence and amount of the charge if the advertisement is intended for rentals at an airport imposing the charge or, if the advertisement covers an area with multiple airports with different charges, a range of amounts of customer facility charges if the advertisement is intended for rentals at an airport imposing the charge.

(2) Clearly and conspicuously disclose in any print rate advertising the existence and amount of the charge if the advertisement is intended for rentals at an airport imposing the charge or, if the print rate advertisement covers an area with multiple airports with different charges, a range of amounts of customer facility charges if the advertisement is intended for rentals at an airport imposing the charge.

(3) Clearly and conspicuously disclose the existence and amount of the charge in any telephonic, in-person, or computer-transmitted quotation from the rental car company's proprietary computer reservation system at the time of making an initial quotation of a rental rate if the quotation is made by a rental car company location at an airport imposing the charge and at the time of making a reservation of a rental car if the reservation is made by a rental car company location at an airport imposing the charge.

(4) Clearly and conspicuously display the charge in any proprietary computer-assisted reservation or transaction directly between the rental car company and the customer, shown or referenced on the same page on the computer screen viewed by the customer as the displayed rental rate and in a print size not smaller than the print size of the rental rate.

(5) Clearly and conspicuously disclose and separately identify the existence and amount of the charge on its rental agreement.

(6) A rental car company that collects from its customers a customer facility charge under subsection (j) and engages in a practice which does not comply with subsections (f), (j), and (k) commits an unlawful practice within the meaning of the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act.

(l) Notwithstanding subsection (f), any person who rents a motor vehicle to another may, in connection with the rental of a motor vehicle to (i) a business renter or (ii) a business program sponsor under the sponsor's business program, do the following:

(1) separately quote, by telephone, in person, or by computer transmission, additional charges for the rental; and

(2) separately impose additional charges for the rental.

(m) As used in this Section:

(1) "Additional charges" means charges other than: (i) a per period base rental rate; (ii) a mileage charge; (iii) taxes; or (iv) a customer facility charge.

(2) "Business program" means:

(A) a contract between a person who rents motor vehicles and a business program sponsor that establishes rental rates at which the person will rent motor vehicles to persons authorized by the sponsor; or

(B) a plan, program, or other arrangement established by a person who rents motor vehicles at the request of, or with the consent of, a business program sponsor under which the person offers to rent motor vehicles to persons authorized by the sponsor on terms that are not the same as those generally offered by the rental company to the public.

(3) "Business program sponsor" means any legal entity other than a natural person, including a corporation, limited liability company, partnership, government, municipality or agency, or a natural person operating a business as a sole proprietor.

(4) "Business renter" means any person renting a motor vehicle for business purposes or, for any business program sponsor, a person who is authorized by the sponsor to enter into a rental contract under the sponsor's business program. "Business renter" does not include a person renting as:

(A) a non-employee member of a not-for-profit organization;

(B) the purchaser of a voucher or other prepaid rental arrangement from a person, including a tour operator, engaged in the business of reselling those vouchers or prepaid rental arrangements to the general public;

(C) an individual whose car rental is eligible for reimbursement in whole or in part as a result of the person being insured or provided coverage under a policy of insurance issued by an insurance company; or

(D) an individual whose car rental is eligible for reimbursement in whole or in part as a result of the person purchasing motor vehicle repair services from a person licensed to perform those services.

(Source: P.A. 97-595, eff. 8-26-11.)