HB3314 EnrolledLRB103 05921 LNS 50942 b

1    AN ACT concerning civil law.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
5Consumer Contract Reciprocal Attorney's Fees Act.
 
6    Section 5. Definitions. As used in this Act:
7    "Consumer contract" means any contract in which the money,
8property, or service that is the subject of the transaction is
9primarily for personal, family, or household purposes.
10    "Commercial party" means the person from whom money,
11property, or services are acquired under the consumer contract
12that is a seller, lender, participating lender, lessor,
13creditor, or assignee.
14    "Debt buyer" has the meaning given to that term in Section
152 of the Collection Agency Act.
 
16    Section 10. Attorney's fees. If a consumer contract allows
17for the recovery of attorney's fees in an action brought by a
18commercial party to enforce the consumer contract, the court
19may award reasonable attorney's fees to the defendant if the
20defendant prevails in the action. A defendant prevails in an
21action if:
22        (1) judgment is entered by the court in favor of the

 

 

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1    defendant;
2        (2) a motion to dismiss the case is filed by the
3    defendant under Section 2-619 of the Code of Civil
4    Procedure and is granted by the court; or
5        (3) the plaintiff voluntarily dismisses the pending
6    case under Section 2-1009 of the Code of Civil Procedure
7    after a trial date has been set and after the pending case
8    has been previously filed on the same consumer contract
9    and dismissed under Section 2-1009 of the Code of Civil
10    Procedure.
 
11    Section 15. Applicability.
12    (a) This Act applies to any action filed on or after the
13effective date of this Act:
14        (1) with respect to any consumer contract entered into
15    on or after the effective date of this Act; if the
16    commercial party filing the action is a debt buyer, this
17    Act applies irrespective of when the consumer contract was
18    made or acquired by the debt buyer; and
19        (2) if the principal amount claimed does not exceed
20    the maximum amount of a judgment allowable for a small
21    claim under the Illinois Supreme Court Rules.
22    (b) Notwithstanding subsection (a), this Act does not
23apply if:
24        (1) the commercial party does not request attorney's
25    fees in its complaint; or

 

 

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1        (2) each party to the consumer contract was
2    represented by counsel in the negotiation of the consumer
3    contract.
 
4    Section 20. Right to attorney's fees not limited. Nothing
5in this Act shall be construed to apply to or limit the rights
6of any party to attorney's fees under any other contract or as
7authorized in relation to consumer contracts under other
8provisions of State law.