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92_HB0573
LRB9203123RCmg
1 AN ACT in relation to contracts.
2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
4 Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
5 Illinois Fair Bargain Act of 2001.
6 Section 5. Definitions. In this Act:
7 "Standard form contract or lease" means a contract or
8 lease prepared in writing by a party for whom its use is
9 routine in business transactions with consumers of goods or
10 services, borrowers, tenants, or employees.
11 "Disabling civil dispute clause" means a provision
12 modifying or limiting procedural rights necessary or useful
13 to a consumer, borrower, tenant, or employee in the
14 enforcement of substantive rights against a party drafting a
15 standard form contract or lease, such as a clause requiring
16 the consumer, borrower, tenant, or employee to:
17 (1) assert any claim against the party who prepared
18 the form in a forum that is less convenient, more costly,
19 or more dilatory than the Illinois courts for the
20 resolution of the dispute; or
21 (2) assume a risk of liability for the legal fees
22 of the party preparing the contract; however, a seller,
23 lessor, or lender may exact from a buyer, tenant, or
24 borrower an obligation to reimburse the seller or lender
25 for a reasonable fee paid to secure enforcement of a
26 promise to pay money; or
27 (3) forgo any rights provided to litigants in the
28 State of Illinois; or
29 (4) present evidence to a purported neutral person
30 who may reasonably be expected to regard the party
31 preparing the contract as more likely to be a future
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1 employer of the neutral; or
2 (5) forgo recourse to appeal from a decision not
3 based on substantial evidence or disregarding his or her
4 legal rights; or
5 (6) decline to participate in a class action; or
6 (7) forgo an award of attorney's fees, civil
7 penalties, or of multiple damages otherwise available in
8 a judicial proceeding.
9 Section 10. Voidable clauses in contracts. A disabling
10 civil dispute clause in a standard form contract or lease is
11 unconscionable and is voidable by the consumer, borrower,
12 tenant, or employee. Upon request of a party to the contract
13 or lease, the court must declare void a disabling civil
14 dispute clause in a standard form contract or lease and
15 prohibit the enforcement of that provision.
16 Section 15. Exemptions. This Act does not apply to any
17 contract:
18 (1) for the sale or lease of property or for the
19 delivery of services having a value in excess of
20 $200,000, or for a loan in excess of that amount; or
21 (2) of employment providing for compensation in
22 excess of $100,000 a year; or
23 (3) that is a commercial letter of credit.
24 Section 20. Arbitration. Nothing in this Act precludes
25 parties from agreeing to the arbitration of a future dispute;
26 provided that the arbitration agreement does not impose on
27 any consumer, borrower, tenant, or employee procedural
28 disabilities such as those enumerated in Section 5 of this
29 Act as unconscionable.
30 Section 95. Severability. The provisions of this Act
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1 are severable under Section 1.31 of the Statute on Statutes.