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Public Act 103-0344


 

Public Act 0344 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

  
  
  

 


 
Public Act 103-0344
 
HB3314 EnrolledLRB103 05921 LNS 50942 b

    AN ACT concerning civil law.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
Consumer Contract Reciprocal Attorney's Fees Act.
 
    Section 5. Definitions. As used in this Act:
    "Consumer contract" means any contract in which the money,
property, or service that is the subject of the transaction is
primarily for personal, family, or household purposes.
    "Commercial party" means the person from whom money,
property, or services are acquired under the consumer contract
that is a seller, lender, participating lender, lessor,
creditor, or assignee.
    "Debt buyer" has the meaning given to that term in Section
2 of the Collection Agency Act.
 
    Section 10. Attorney's fees. If a consumer contract allows
for the recovery of attorney's fees in an action brought by a
commercial party to enforce the consumer contract, the court
may award reasonable attorney's fees to the defendant if the
defendant prevails in the action. A defendant prevails in an
action if:
        (1) judgment is entered by the court in favor of the
    defendant;
        (2) a motion to dismiss the case is filed by the
    defendant under Section 2-619 of the Code of Civil
    Procedure and is granted by the court; or
        (3) the plaintiff voluntarily dismisses the pending
    case under Section 2-1009 of the Code of Civil Procedure
    after a trial date has been set and after the pending case
    has been previously filed on the same consumer contract
    and dismissed under Section 2-1009 of the Code of Civil
    Procedure.
 
    Section 15. Applicability.
    (a) This Act applies to any action filed on or after the
effective date of this Act:
        (1) with respect to any consumer contract entered into
    on or after the effective date of this Act; if the
    commercial party filing the action is a debt buyer, this
    Act applies irrespective of when the consumer contract was
    made or acquired by the debt buyer; and
        (2) if the principal amount claimed does not exceed
    the maximum amount of a judgment allowable for a small
    claim under the Illinois Supreme Court Rules.
    (b) Notwithstanding subsection (a), this Act does not
apply if:
        (1) the commercial party does not request attorney's
    fees in its complaint; or
        (2) each party to the consumer contract was
    represented by counsel in the negotiation of the consumer
    contract.
 
    Section 20. Right to attorney's fees not limited. Nothing
in this Act shall be construed to apply to or limit the rights
of any party to attorney's fees under any other contract or as
authorized in relation to consumer contracts under other
provisions of State law.

Effective Date: 1/1/2024