Full Text of SB1029 95th General Assembly
SB1029sam002 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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Sen. Michael Noland
Filed: 5/13/2008
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LRB095 05914 AJO 49609 a |
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| AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 1029
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| AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 1029 by replacing | 3 |
| the title with the following:
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| "AN ACT concerning consumer contracts."; and | 5 |
| by replacing everything after the enacting clause with the | 6 |
| following:
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| "Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the | 8 |
| Consumer Contract
Plain Language Act.
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| Section 5. Definitions. As used in this Act, unless the | 10 |
| context clearly
requires otherwise:
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| "Consumer" means an individual who, primarily for | 12 |
| personal, family, or
household purposes, either: (i) gives or | 13 |
| promises to give money or other
consideration
in exchange for | 14 |
| an interest in services or real or personal property, including
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| money, or (ii) leases residential premises for a term not |
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| exceeding 3 years.
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| "Consumer contract" means a written contract with a | 3 |
| consumer in which the
price, excluding interest or finance | 4 |
| charges, is $100,000 or less.
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| Section 10. Plain language required. Except as provided in | 6 |
| Section 15,
every consumer contract made with an alternative | 7 |
| gas supplier after the effective date of this Act shall meet
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| all of the following criteria:
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| (1) The contract shall adequately inform the consumer | 10 |
| of the rights and
duties fixed by the contract.
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| (2) The contract shall be sufficiently clear and | 12 |
| readable for the ordinary
reader, using, so far as is | 13 |
| practical, words with common, everyday meanings.
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| (3) The contract shall be appropriately divided into | 15 |
| sections and
paragraphs, and the sections shall contain | 16 |
| captions.
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| (4) The contract shall be printed in a clear and | 18 |
| conspicuous manner, as defined in the Uniform Commercial | 19 |
| Code.
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| Section 15. Exceptions. | 21 |
| (a) This Act does not prohibit the use of the following
in | 22 |
| consumer contracts with alternative gas suppliers:
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| (1) Words or phrases, or forms of agreement, required | 24 |
| by State or federal
law or by rule or regulation of a State |
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| or federal governmental
instrumentality.
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| (2) Technical terms used to describe a service or | 3 |
| property that is the
subject of the contract if (i) those | 4 |
| terms are customarily used by consumers
in connection with | 5 |
| the service or property or (ii) there is no sufficiently
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| clear and readable substitute for those terms.
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| (b) Notwithstanding any other law, rule, or regulation, no | 8 |
| retail store is exempt from any applicable requirement of the | 9 |
| Act.
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| Section 20. Violation.
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| (a) A violation of Section 10 does not render a consumer | 12 |
| contract with an alternative gas supplier void or
voidable, nor | 13 |
| does it constitute a defense to an action or proceeding for
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| breach of the contract or to enforce the contract.
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| (b) If the Attorney General has reason to believe that a | 16 |
| business entity is
using or has used a consumer contract that | 17 |
| violates Section 10 and determines
that an action under this | 18 |
| subsection would be in the public interest, the
Attorney | 19 |
| General may bring an action, in the name of the People of the | 20 |
| State of
Illinois, against that business entity to restrain the | 21 |
| use of that consumer
contract.".
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