(215 ILCS 152/50)
Sec. 50.
Examinations and enforcement provisions.
(a) The Director may conduct examinations of service contract providers,
administrators, or
other persons to enforce this Act and protect service contract holders in this
State. Upon
request of the Director, a service contract provider shall make available to
the Director all accounts,
books, and
records concerning service contracts sold by the service contract provider
that are necessary to enable the Director to reasonably determine
compliance or noncompliance with this Act.
(b) The Director may take action that is necessary or appropriate to
enforce the provisions
of this Act and the Director's rules and orders and to protect service
contract
holders in this State.
If a service contract provider engages in a pattern or
practice of conduct
that violates this Act and that the Director reasonably believes threatens to
render
the service contract provider insolvent or cause irreparable loss or injury to
the
property or business of any person or company located in this State, the
Director may (i)
issue an order directed to that service contract provider to cease and desist
from
engaging in further acts, practices, or transactions that are causing the
conduct; (ii)
issue an order prohibiting that service contract provider from selling or
offering
for sale service contracts in violation of this Act; (iii) issue an order
imposing a civil
penalty on that service contract provider; or (iv) issue any combination of the
foregoing,
as
applicable. Prior to the effective date of any order issued pursuant to this
subsection,
the Director must provide written notice of the order to the service contract
provider
and the opportunity for a hearing to be held within 10 business days after
receipt of the notice, except prior notice and hearing shall not be required if
the Director reasonably believes that the service contract provider has become,
or is about to become, insolvent.
A person aggrieved by an order issued under this Section may request a
hearing
before the Director. The hearing request shall be filed with the Director
within 20
days after the date the Director's order is effective, and the Director must
hold
such a
hearing within 15 days after receipt of the hearing request.
(c) At the hearing, the burden shall be on the Director to show why the
order
issued
pursuant to this Section is justified. The provisions of Section 10-25
of the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act shall apply to
a hearing
request under this Section.
(d) The Director may bring an action in any court of competent
jurisdiction for
an
injunction or other appropriate relief to enjoin threatened or existing
violations of this
Act or of the Director's orders or rules. An action filed under this
Section also
may seek restitution on behalf of persons aggrieved by a violation of this Act
or orders
or rules of the Director.
(e) A person who is found to have violated this Act or orders or
rules of the Director
may be ordered to pay to the Director a civil penalty in an amount, determined
by the
Director, of not more than $500 per violation and not more
than
$10,000 in the aggregate for all violations of a similar
nature.
For purposes of this Section, violations shall be of a similar nature if the
violation
consists of the same or similar course of conduct, action, or practice,
irrespective of
the number of times the conduct, action, or practice that is determined to be
a
violation of this Act occurred.
(Source: P.A. 90-711, eff. 8-7-98.)
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