225 ILCS 50/6

(225 ILCS 50/6) (from Ch. 111, par. 7406)

(Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2026)

Sec. 6. Mail order and Internet sales. Nothing in this Act shall prohibit a corporation, partnership, trust, association, or other organization, maintaining an established business address, from engaging in the business of selling or offering for sale hearing aids at retail by mail or by Internet to persons 18 years of age or older who have not been examined by a licensed physician or tested by a licensed hearing instrument professional provided that:

(a) The organization is registered by the Department prior to engaging in business in this State and has paid the fee set forth in this Act.

(b) The organization files with the Department, prior to registration and annually thereafter, a Disclosure Statement containing the following:

(1) the name under which the organization is doing or intends to do business and the name of any affiliated company which the organization recommends or will recommend to persons as a supplier of goods or services or in connection with other business transactions of the organization;

(2) the organization's principal business address and the name and address of its agent in this State authorized to receive service of process;

(3) the business form of the organization, whether corporate, partnership, or otherwise and the state or other sovereign power under which the organization is organized;

(4) the names of the directors or persons performing similar functions and names and addresses of the chief executive officer, and the financial, accounting, sales, and other principal executive officers, if the organization is a corporation, association, or other similar entity; of all general partners, if the organization is a partnership; and of the owner, if the organization is a sole proprietorship, together with a statement of the business background during the past 5 years for each such person;

(5) a statement as to whether the organization or any person identified in the disclosure statement:

(i) has during the 5-year period immediately preceding the date of the disclosure statement been convicted of a felony, pleaded nolo contendere to a felony charge, or been held liable in a civil action by final judgment, if such felony or civil action involved fraud, embezzlement, or misappropriation of property, and a description thereof; or

(ii) is subject to any currently effective injunctive or restrictive order as a result of a proceeding or pending action brought by any government agency or department, and a description thereof; or

(iii) is a defendant in any pending criminal or material civil action relating to fraud, embezzlement, misappropriation of property or violations of the antitrust or trade regulation laws of the United States or any state, and a description thereof; or

(iv) has during the 5-year period immediately preceding the date of the disclosure statement had entered against such person or organization a final judgment in any material civil proceeding, and a description thereof; or

(v) has during the 5-year period immediately preceding the date of the disclosure statement been adjudicated a bankrupt or reorganized due to insolvency or was a principal executive officer or general partner of any company that has been adjudicated a bankrupt or reorganized due to insolvency during such 5-year period, and a description thereof;

(6) the length of time the organization and any predecessor of the organization has conducted a business dealing with hearing aid goods or services;

(7) a financial statement of the organization as of the close of the most recent fiscal year of the organization. If the financial statement is filed later than 120 days following the close of the fiscal year of the organization it must be accompanied by a statement of the organization of any material changes in the financial condition of the organization;

(8) a general description of the business, including without limitation a description of the goods, training programs, supervision, advertising, promotion and other services provided by the organization;

(9) a statement of any compensation or other benefit given or promised to a public figure arising, in whole or in part, from (i) the use of the public figure in the name or symbol of the organization or (ii) the endorsement or recommendation of the organization by the public figure in advertisements;

(10) a statement setting forth such additional information and such comments and explanations relative to the information contained in the disclosure statement as the organization may desire to present.

(b-5) If a device being sold does not meet the definition of an over-the-counter hearing aid or a prescription hearing aid, as stated in this Act, the organization shall include a disclaimer in all written or electronic promotions. The disclaimer shall include the following language:

"This is not a hearing instrument or hearing aid as defined in the Hearing Instrument Consumer Protection Act, but a personal sound amplification product and not intended to replace a properly fitted and calibrated hearing aid or treat hearing loss.".

(c) The organization files with the Department prior to registration and annually thereafter a statement that it complies with the Act, the rules issued pursuant to it, and the regulations of the Federal Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission insofar as they are applicable.

(d) The organization files with the Department at the time of registration an irrevocable consent to service of process authorizing the Department and any of its successors to be served any notice, process, or pleading in any action or proceeding against the organization arising out of or in connection with any violation of this Act. Such service shall have the effect of conferring personal jurisdiction over such organization in any court of competent jurisdiction.

(e) Before dispensing a hearing aid by mail or over the Internet to a resident of this State, the organization informs (i) the parent or guardian of a person age 17 or younger that he or she must obtain a prescription issued by a licensed audiologist or licensed physician that meets the requirements of Section 4.5 or (ii) a person age 18 or older that he or she must obtain a prescription issued by a hearing instrument professional that meets the requirements of Section 4.6.

(f) (Blank).

(g) Where a sale, lease, or rental of prescription hearing aids are sold or contracted to be sold to a consumer by mail order or via the Internet, the consumer may void the contract or sale by notifying the seller within 45 business days following that day on which the hearing aids were mailed by the seller to the consumer and by returning to the seller in its original condition any hearing aids delivered to the consumer under the contract or sale. At the time the hearing aid is mailed, the seller shall furnish the consumer with a fully completed receipt or copy of any contract pertaining to the sale that contains a "Notice of Cancellation" informing the consumer that he or she may cancel the sale at any time within 45 business days and disclosing the date of the mailing and the name, address, and telephone number of the seller. In immediate proximity to the space reserved in the contract for the signature of the consumer, or on the front page of the receipt if a contract is not used, and in bold face type of a minimum size of 10 points, there shall be a statement in substantially the following form:

"You, the buyer, may cancel this transaction at any time prior to midnight of the 45th business day after the date of this transaction. See the attached notice of cancellation form for an explanation of this right."

Attached to the receipt or contract shall be a completed form in duplicate, captioned "NOTICE OF CANCELLATION" which shall be easily detachable and which shall contain in at least 10 point bold face type the following information and statements in the same language as that used in the contract:"NOTICE OF CANCELLATIONenter date of transaction.........................(DATE) YOU MAY CANCEL THIS TRANSACTION, WITHOUT ANY PENALTY OR OBLIGATION, WITHIN 45 BUSINESS DAYS FROM THE ABOVE DATE.

IF YOU CANCEL, ANY PROPERTY TRADED IN, ANY PAYMENTS MADE BY YOU UNDER THE CONTRACT OR SALE LESS ANY NONREFUNDABLE RESTOCKING FEE, AND ANY NEGOTIABLE INSTRUMENT EXECUTED BY YOU WILL BE RETURNED WITHIN 10 BUSINESS DAYS FOLLOWING RECEIPT BY THE SELLER OF YOUR CANCELLATION NOTICE AND ALL MERCHANDISE PERTAINING TO THIS TRANSACTION, AND ANY SECURITY INTEREST ARISING OUT OF THE TRANSACTION WILL BE CANCELLED.

IF YOU CANCEL, YOU MUST RETURN TO THE SELLER, IN SUBSTANTIALLY AS GOOD CONDITION AS WHEN RECEIVED, ANY GOODS DELIVERED TO YOU UNDER THIS CONTRACT OR SALE.

TO CANCEL THIS TRANSACTION, MAIL OR DELIVER A SIGNED AND DATED COPY OF THIS CANCELLATION NOTICE OR ANY OTHER WRITTEN NOTICE, OR SEND A TELEGRAM, TO (name of seller), AT (address of seller's place of business) AND (seller's telephone number) NO LATER THAN MIDNIGHT OF ...........(date).

I HEREBY CANCEL THIS TRANSACTION.

(Date)............

..................

(Buyers Signature)"

The written "Notice of Cancellation" may be sent by the consumer to the seller to cancel the contract. The 45-day period does not commence until the consumer is furnished the Notice of Cancellation and the address and phone number at which such notice to the seller can be given.

If the conditions of this Section are met, the seller must return to the consumer the amount of any payment made or consideration given under the contract or for the merchandise less a nonrefundable restocking fee.

It is an unlawful practice for a seller to: (1) hold a consumer responsible for any liability or obligation under any mail order transaction if the consumer claims not to have received the merchandise unless the merchandise was sent by certified mail or other delivery method by which the seller is provided with proof of delivery; (2) fail, before furnishing copies of the "Notice of Cancellation" to the consumer, to complete both copies by entering the name of the seller, the address of the seller's place of business, the seller's telephone number, the date of the mailing, and the date, not earlier than the 45th business day following the date of the mailing, by which the consumer may give notice of cancellation; (3) include in any contract or receipt any confession of judgment or any waiver of any of the rights to which the consumer is entitled under this Section including specifically his right to cancel the sale in accordance with the provisions of this Section; (4) misrepresent in any manner the consumer's right to cancel; (5) use any undue influence, coercion, or any other wilful act or representation to interfere with the consumer's exercise of his rights under this Section; (6) fail or refuse to honor any valid notice of cancellation and return of merchandise by a consumer and, within 10 business days after the receipt of such notice and merchandise pertaining to such transaction, to (i) refund payments made under the contract or sale, (ii) return any goods or property traded in, in substantially as good condition as when received by the person, (iii) cancel and return any negotiable instrument executed by the consumer in connection with the contract or sale and take any action necessary or appropriate to terminate promptly any security interest created in the transaction; (7) negotiate, transfer, sell, or assign any note or other evidence of indebtedness to a finance company or other third party prior to the 50th business day following the day of the mailing; or (8) fail to provide the consumer of a hearing aid with written information stating the name, address, and telephone number of the Department and informing the consumer that complaints regarding hearing aid goods or services may be made to the Department.

(h) The organization employs only licensed hearing instrument professionals in the dispensing of hearing aids and files with the Department, by January 1 of each year, a list of all licensed hearing instrument professionals employed by it.

(Source: P.A. 103-495, eff. 1-1-24; 103-576, eff. 12-8-23.)