Full Text of SB0227 102nd General Assembly
SB0227eng 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning business.
| 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
| 3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
| 4 | | Section 5. The Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business | 5 | | Practices Act is amended by changing Section 10a as follows:
| 6 | | (815 ILCS 505/10a) (from Ch. 121 1/2, par. 270a)
| 7 | | Sec. 10a. Action for actual damages.
| 8 | | (a) Any person who suffers actual damage as a result of a | 9 | | violation
of this Act committed by any other person may bring | 10 | | an action against such
person. The court, in its discretion | 11 | | may award actual economic damages or
any other
relief which | 12 | | the court deems proper; provided, however, that no award of
| 13 | | punitive damages may be assessed under this Section against a | 14 | | party defendant
who is a new vehicle dealer or used vehicle | 15 | | dealer within the meaning of
Chapter 5 of the Illinois Vehicle | 16 | | Code
or who is the holder of a retail installment contract | 17 | | within the meaning of
Section 2.12 of the Motor
Vehicle Retail | 18 | | Installment Sales Act, unless the conduct engaged in was
| 19 | | willful or intentional and done with evil motive or reckless | 20 | | indifference to
the rights of others. Proof of a public
| 21 | | injury, a pattern,
or an effect on consumers and the public | 22 | | interest generally shall
be required in order to state a cause | 23 | | of action under this Section against a
party defendant who is a |
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| 1 | | new vehicle dealer or used vehicle dealer within the
meaning | 2 | | of Chapter 5 of the Illinois Vehicle Code
or who is the holder | 3 | | of a retail installment contract within the meaning of
Section | 4 | | 2.12 of the Motor
Vehicle Retail Installment Sales Act. Proof | 5 | | of such public
injury may be shown by any one of the following | 6 | | factors:
| 7 | | (1) Violation of a statute that has a public interest | 8 | | impact.
| 9 | | (2) Repeated acts prior to the act involving the | 10 | | plaintiff.
| 11 | | (3) Potential for repetition.
| 12 | | (b) Such action may be commenced in the county in which the | 13 | | person
against whom it is brought resides, has his principal | 14 | | place of business, or
is doing business, or in the county where | 15 | | the transaction or any
substantial portion thereof occurred.
| 16 | | (c) Except as provided in subsections (f), (g), and
(h) of | 17 | | this Section, in any
action brought by a person under this | 18 | | Section, the Court may
grant injunctive relief where | 19 | | appropriate and may award, in addition to the
relief provided | 20 | | in this Section, reasonable attorney's fees and costs to
the | 21 | | prevailing party.
| 22 | | (d) Upon commencement of any action brought under this | 23 | | Section the
plaintiff shall mail a copy of the complaint or | 24 | | other initial
pleading to the
Attorney General and, upon entry | 25 | | of any judgment or order in the action,
shall mail a copy of | 26 | | such judgment or order to the Attorney
General.
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| 1 | | (e) Any action for damages under this Section shall be | 2 | | forever barred
unless commenced within 3 years after the cause | 3 | | of action accrued; provided
that, whenever any action is | 4 | | brought by the Attorney General or a State's
Attorney for a | 5 | | violation of this Act, the running of the foregoing statute
of | 6 | | limitations, with respect to every private right of action for | 7 | | damages
which is based in whole or in part on any matter | 8 | | complained of in said
action by the Attorney General or | 9 | | State's Attorney, shall be suspended
during the pendency | 10 | | thereof, and for one year thereafter.
| 11 | | (f) At any time more than 30 days before the commencement | 12 | | of trial, a party,
who is a new vehicle dealer or used vehicle | 13 | | dealer within the meaning of
Chapter 5 of the Illinois Vehicle | 14 | | Code
or who is the holder of a retail installment contract | 15 | | within the meaning of
Section 2.12 of the Motor
Vehicle Retail | 16 | | Installment Sales Act
and who is defending a claim under
this | 17 | | Act, may serve upon the party seeking relief under this Act an | 18 | | offer
to allow judgment to be taken against the defending | 19 | | party to the effect
specified in the offer with costs then | 20 | | accrued. If within 10 days after
service of the offer, the | 21 | | offeree serves written notice that the offer is
accepted, | 22 | | either party may then file the offer and notice of acceptance
| 23 | | together with proof of service of the notice; the court shall | 24 | | then enter
judgment. An offer not accepted shall be deemed | 25 | | withdrawn and evidence
of the offer is not admissible except | 26 | | in a proceeding to determine costs. When
a party seeking |
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| 1 | | relief under this Act does not accept an offer filed with
the | 2 | | clerk and served upon the attorney for that party more than 30 | 3 | | days
before the commencement of trial and when that party | 4 | | fails to obtain a
judgment in an amount more than the total | 5 | | offer of settlement, that party
shall forfeit and the court | 6 | | may not award any compensation for attorney's
fees and costs | 7 | | incurred after the date of the offer.
| 8 | | (g) At any time more than 30 days before the commencement | 9 | | of trial, a
party who is seeking relief under this Act from a | 10 | | new vehicle dealer or
used vehicle dealer within the meaning | 11 | | of Chapter 5 of the Illinois
Vehicle Code
or from the holder of | 12 | | a retail installment contract within the meaning of
Section | 13 | | 2.12 of the Motor
Vehicle Retail Installment Sales Act
may | 14 | | serve the dealer or holder an offer to allow judgment to be | 15 | | taken
against the dealer or holder to the effect specified in | 16 | | the offer with
costs then
accrued. If within 10 days after | 17 | | service of the offer, the offeree serves
written notice that | 18 | | the offer is accepted, either party may then file the offer
and | 19 | | notice of acceptance together with proof of service of the | 20 | | notice; the
court shall then enter judgment. An offer not | 21 | | accepted shall be deemed
withdrawn and evidence of the offer | 22 | | is not admissible except in a proceeding to
determine costs. | 23 | | When a dealer or holder does not accept an offer filed
with the | 24 | | clerk
and served upon the attorney for the dealer or holder | 25 | | more than 30 days
before the
commencement of trial and if the | 26 | | party seeking relief against a dealer or
holder obtains
a |
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| 1 | | judgment in an amount equal to or in excess of the offer | 2 | | amount, the party
seeking relief shall be paid interest on the | 3 | | offer amount at the rate as
provided in Section 2-1303
of the | 4 | | Code of Civil Procedure from the date of the offer until the | 5 | | judgment is
paid.
| 6 | | (h) At least 30 days prior to the filing of an action under | 7 | | this Section,
a party who is seeking relief shall serve a | 8 | | written notice of the nature of the
alleged violation and | 9 | | demand for relief upon the prospective party, who is a
new | 10 | | vehicle dealer or used vehicle dealer within the meaning of | 11 | | Chapter 5 of
the Illinois Vehicle Code
or who is the holder of | 12 | | a retail installment contract within the meaning of
Section | 13 | | 2.12 of the Motor
Vehicle Retail Installment Sales Act, | 14 | | against whom
such action will be commenced. Any person | 15 | | receiving such a demand for relief
may, within 30 days of | 16 | | service of the demand for relief, submit a written offer
of | 17 | | settlement, which offer is to be exclusive of attorney's fees, | 18 | | to the party
serving the notice and demand. The party who is | 19 | | seeking relief must certify in
any cause of action that the | 20 | | notice and demand was served upon the named
defendants and the | 21 | | substance of their response, if any. If the offer of
| 22 | | settlement is rejected in writing by the party who is seeking | 23 | | relief, then, in
any subsequent action, the court shall deny | 24 | | any award of attorney's fees and
costs requested by the party | 25 | | seeking relief under this Act incurred after the
rejection of | 26 | | the written offer of settlement, if the judgment is less than |
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| 1 | | the
amount contained within the offer of settlement. All | 2 | | written offers of
settlement under this subsection shall be | 3 | | presumed to be offered without
prejudice in compromise of a | 4 | | disputed matter. | 5 | | (i) No action can be brought under this Section against a | 6 | | person as a result of an over collection of any tax by such | 7 | | person to the extent such over collected tax is remitted to a | 8 | | government entity or agency. For purposes of this Section, a | 9 | | tax is remitted to a governmental entity or agency when it is | 10 | | paid or transferred to the government entity or agency, or | 11 | | taken as a credit, allowance, or offset on a tax return or | 12 | | other tax form (including any amount of commission or discount | 13 | | taken by or allowed to a tax collector or taxpayer). This | 14 | | subsection applies in addition to any other defense to an | 15 | | action under this Act that may apply.
| 16 | | (Source: P.A. 91-270, eff. 1-1-00 .)
| 17 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 18 | | becoming law.
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