Full Text of SB0270 94th General Assembly
SB0270 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2005 and 2006 SB0270
Introduced 2/3/2005, by Sen. Kirk W. Dillard - John J. Cullerton SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
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815 ILCS 505/10a |
from Ch. 121 1/2, par. 270a |
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Amends the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act. Provides that any party to an action for actual damages shall have the right to demand a trial by jury. Effective immediately.
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A BILL FOR
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SB0270 |
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LRB094 05867 RXD 35921 b |
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| AN ACT concerning business.
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 5. The Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business | 5 |
| Practices Act is amended by changing Section 10a as follows:
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| (815 ILCS 505/10a) (from Ch. 121 1/2, par. 270a)
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| Sec. 10a. Action for actual damages.
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| (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 or jury , in its | 11 |
| discretion may award actual economic damages or
any other
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| relief which the court or jury deems proper; provided, however, | 13 |
| that no award of
punitive damages may be assessed under this | 14 |
| Section against a party defendant
who is a new vehicle dealer | 15 |
| or used vehicle dealer within the meaning of
Chapter 5 of the | 16 |
| Illinois Vehicle Code
or who is the holder of a retail | 17 |
| installment contract within the meaning of
Section 2.12 of the | 18 |
| Motor
Vehicle Retail Installment Sales Act, unless the conduct | 19 |
| engaged in was
willful or intentional and done with evil motive | 20 |
| or reckless indifference to
the rights of others. Proof of a | 21 |
| public
injury, a pattern,
or an effect on consumers and the | 22 |
| public interest generally shall
be required in order to state a | 23 |
| cause of action under this Section against a
party defendant | 24 |
| who is a new vehicle dealer or used vehicle dealer within the
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| meaning of Chapter 5 of the Illinois Vehicle Code
or who is the | 26 |
| holder of a retail installment contract within the meaning of
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| Section 2.12 of the Motor
Vehicle Retail Installment Sales Act. | 28 |
| Proof of such public
injury may be shown by any one of the | 29 |
| following factors:
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| (1) Violation of a statute that has a public interest | 31 |
| impact.
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| (2) Repeated acts prior to the act involving the |
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SB0270 |
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LRB094 05867 RXD 35921 b |
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| plaintiff.
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| (3) Potential for repetition.
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| (a-5) Any party to an action brought under this Section | 4 |
| shall have the right to demand a trial by jury.
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| (b) Such action may be commenced in the county in which the | 6 |
| person
against whom it is brought resides, has his principal | 7 |
| place of business, or
is doing business, or in the county where | 8 |
| the transaction or any
substantial portion thereof occurred.
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| (c) Except as provided in subsections (f), (g), and
(h) of | 10 |
| this Section, in any
action brought by a person under this | 11 |
| Section, the Court may
grant injunctive relief where | 12 |
| appropriate and may award, in addition to the
relief provided | 13 |
| in this Section, reasonable attorney's fees and costs to
the | 14 |
| prevailing party.
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| (d) Upon commencement of any action brought under this | 16 |
| Section the
plaintiff shall mail a copy of the complaint or | 17 |
| other initial
pleading to the
Attorney General and, upon entry | 18 |
| of any judgment or order in the action,
shall mail a copy of | 19 |
| such judgment or order to the Attorney
General.
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| (e) Any action for damages under this Section shall be | 21 |
| forever barred
unless commenced within 3 years after the cause | 22 |
| of action accrued; provided
that, whenever any action is | 23 |
| brought by the Attorney General or a State's
Attorney for a | 24 |
| violation of this Act, the running of the foregoing statute
of | 25 |
| limitations, with respect to every private right of action for | 26 |
| damages
which is based in whole or in part on any matter | 27 |
| complained of in said
action by the Attorney General or State's | 28 |
| Attorney, shall be suspended
during the pendency thereof, and | 29 |
| for one year thereafter.
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| (f) At any time more than 30 days before the commencement | 31 |
| of trial, a party,
who is a new vehicle dealer or used vehicle | 32 |
| dealer within the meaning of
Chapter 5 of the Illinois Vehicle | 33 |
| Code
or who is the holder of a retail installment contract | 34 |
| within the meaning of
Section 2.12 of the Motor
Vehicle Retail | 35 |
| Installment Sales Act
and who is defending a claim under
this | 36 |
| Act, may serve upon the party seeking relief under this Act an |
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| offer
to allow judgment to be taken against the defending party | 2 |
| to the effect
specified in the offer with costs then accrued. | 3 |
| If within 10 days after
service of the offer, the offeree | 4 |
| serves written notice that the offer is
accepted, either party | 5 |
| may then file the offer and notice of acceptance
together with | 6 |
| proof of service of the notice; the court shall then enter
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| judgment. An offer not accepted shall be deemed withdrawn and | 8 |
| evidence
of the offer is not admissible except in a proceeding | 9 |
| to determine costs. When
a party seeking relief under this Act | 10 |
| does not accept an offer filed with
the clerk and served upon | 11 |
| the attorney for that party more than 30 days
before the | 12 |
| commencement of trial and when that party fails to obtain a
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| judgment in an amount more than the total offer of settlement, | 14 |
| that party
shall forfeit and the court may not award any | 15 |
| compensation for attorney's
fees and costs incurred after the | 16 |
| date of the offer.
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| (g) At any time more than 30 days before the commencement | 18 |
| of trial, a
party who is seeking relief under this Act from a | 19 |
| new vehicle dealer or
used vehicle dealer within the meaning of | 20 |
| Chapter 5 of the Illinois
Vehicle Code
or from the holder of a | 21 |
| retail installment contract within the meaning of
Section 2.12 | 22 |
| of the Motor
Vehicle Retail Installment Sales Act
may serve the | 23 |
| dealer or holder an offer to allow judgment to be taken
against | 24 |
| the dealer or holder to the effect specified in the offer with
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| costs then
accrued. If within 10 days after service of the | 26 |
| offer, the offeree serves
written notice that the offer is | 27 |
| accepted, either party may then file the offer
and notice of | 28 |
| acceptance together with proof of service of the notice; the
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| court shall then enter judgment. An offer not accepted shall be | 30 |
| deemed
withdrawn and evidence of the offer is not admissible | 31 |
| except in a proceeding to
determine costs. When a dealer or | 32 |
| holder does not accept an offer filed
with the clerk
and served | 33 |
| upon the attorney for the dealer or holder more than 30 days
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| before the
commencement of trial and if the party seeking | 35 |
| relief against a dealer or
holder obtains
a judgment in an | 36 |
| amount equal to or in excess of the offer amount, the party
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| seeking relief shall be paid interest on the offer amount at | 2 |
| the rate as
provided in Section 2-1303
of the Code of Civil | 3 |
| Procedure from the date of the offer until the judgment is
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| paid.
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| (h) At least 30 days prior to the filing of an action under | 6 |
| this Section,
a party who is seeking relief shall serve a | 7 |
| written notice of the nature of the
alleged violation and | 8 |
| demand for relief upon the prospective party, who is a
new | 9 |
| vehicle dealer or used vehicle dealer within the meaning of | 10 |
| Chapter 5 of
the Illinois Vehicle Code
or who is the holder of | 11 |
| a retail installment contract within the meaning of
Section | 12 |
| 2.12 of the Motor
Vehicle Retail Installment Sales Act, against | 13 |
| whom
such action will be commenced. Any person receiving such a | 14 |
| demand for relief
may, within 30 days of service of the demand | 15 |
| for relief, submit a written offer
of settlement, which offer | 16 |
| is to be exclusive of attorney's fees, to the party
serving the | 17 |
| notice and demand. The party who is seeking relief must certify | 18 |
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any cause of action that the notice and demand was served | 19 |
| upon the named
defendants and the substance of their response, | 20 |
| if any. If the offer of
settlement is rejected in writing by | 21 |
| the party who is seeking relief, then, in
any subsequent | 22 |
| action, the court shall deny any award of attorney's fees and
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| costs requested by the party seeking relief under this Act | 24 |
| incurred after the
rejection of the written offer of | 25 |
| settlement, if the judgment is less than the
amount contained | 26 |
| within the offer of settlement. All written offers of
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| settlement under this subsection shall be presumed to be | 28 |
| offered without
prejudice in compromise of a disputed matter.
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| (Source: P.A. 91-270, eff. 1-1-00.)
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| Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 31 |
| becoming law.
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