100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2017 and 2018
HB0692

 

Introduced , by Rep. David S. Olsen

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
625 ILCS 5/6-305  from Ch. 95 1/2, par. 6-305

    Amends the Illinois Vehicle Code. Provides that a rental company shall not charge a renter any fee, surcharge, or fine amount that is more than twice the toll amount charged to the rental company's I-Pass or E-ZPass account for the renter's use of the rental vehicle on a toll highway operated by the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority. Effective immediately.


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A BILL FOR

 

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1    AN ACT concerning transportation.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Illinois Vehicle Code is amended by changing
5Section 6-305 as follows:
 
6    (625 ILCS 5/6-305)  (from Ch. 95 1/2, par. 6-305)
7    Sec. 6-305. Renting motor vehicle to another.
8    (a) No person shall rent a motor vehicle to any other
9person unless the latter person, or a driver designated by a
10nondriver with disabilities and meeting any minimum age and
11driver's record requirements that are uniformly applied by the
12person renting a motor vehicle, is then duly licensed hereunder
13or, in the case of a nonresident, then duly licensed under the
14laws of the State or country of his residence unless the State
15or country of his residence does not require that a driver be
16licensed.
17    (b) No person shall rent a motor vehicle to another until
18he has inspected the drivers license of the person to whom the
19vehicle is to be rented, or by whom it is to be driven, and
20compared and verified the signature thereon with the signature
21of such person written in his presence unless, in the case of a
22nonresident, the State or country wherein the nonresident
23resides does not require that a driver be licensed.

 

 

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1    (c) No person shall rent a motorcycle to another unless the
2latter person is then duly licensed hereunder as a motorcycle
3operator, and in the case of a nonresident, then duly licensed
4under the laws of the State or country of his residence, unless
5the State or country of his residence does not require that a
6driver be licensed.
7    (c-1) A rental car company that rents a motor vehicle shall
8ensure that the renter is provided with an emergency telephone
9number to personnel capable of fielding roadside assistance and
10other customer service inquiries, including the ability to
11provide the caller with the telephone number of the location
12from which the vehicle was rented, if requested by the caller.
13If an owner's manual is not available in the vehicle at the
14time of the rental, an owner's manual for that vehicle or a
15similar model shall be accessible by the personnel answering
16the emergency telephone number for assistance with inquiries
17about the operation of the vehicle.
18    (d) (Blank).
19    (e) (Blank).
20    (f) Subject to subsection (l), any person who rents a motor
21vehicle to another shall only advertise, quote, and charge a
22rental rate that includes the entire amount except taxes, a
23mileage charge, and airport concession charge, if any, which a
24renter must pay to hire or lease the vehicle for the period of
25time to which the rental rate applies. The person must provide,
26on the request of the renter, based on the available

 

 

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1information, an estimated total of the daily rental rate,
2including all applicable taxes, fees, and other charges, or an
3estimated total rental charge, based on the return date of the
4vehicle noted on the rental agreement. Further, if the rental
5agreement does not already provide an estimated total rental
6charge, the following statement must be included in the rental
7agreement:
8    "NOTICE: UNDER ILLINOIS LAW, YOU MAY REQUEST, BASED ON
9    AVAILABLE INFORMATION, AN ESTIMATED TOTAL DAILY RENTAL
10    RATE, INCLUDING TAXES, FEES, AND OTHER CHARGES, OR AN
11    ESTIMATED TOTAL RENTAL CHARGE, BASED ON THE VEHICLE RETURN
12    DATE NOTED ON THIS AGREEMENT."
13    Such person shall not charge in addition to the rental
14rate, taxes, mileage charge, and airport concession charge, if
15any, any fee which must be paid by the renter as a condition of
16hiring or leasing the vehicle, such as, but not limited to,
17required fuel or airport surcharges, nor any fee for
18transporting the renter to the location where the rented
19vehicle will be delivered to the renter, or any fee, surcharge,
20or fine amount charged to the renter that is more than twice
21the toll amount charged to the person's I-Pass or E-ZPass
22account for the renter's use of the rental vehicle on a toll
23highway operated by the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority.
24In addition to the rental rate, taxes, mileage charge, and
25airport concession charge, and toll charge, if any, such person
26may charge for an item or service provided in connection with a

 

 

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1particular rental transaction if the renter can avoid incurring
2the charge by choosing not to obtain or utilize the optional
3item or service. Items and services for which such person may
4impose an additional charge include, but are not limited to,
5optional insurance and accessories requested by the renter,
6service charges incident to the renter's optional return of the
7vehicle to a location other than the location where the vehicle
8was hired or leased, and charges for refueling the vehicle at
9the conclusion of the rental transaction in the event the
10renter did not return the vehicle with as much fuel as was in
11the fuel tank at the beginning of the rental. "Airport
12concession charge" means a charge or fee imposed and collected
13from a renter to reimburse the motor vehicle rental company for
14the concession fee it is required to pay to a local government
15corporate authority or airport authority to rent motor vehicles
16at the airport facility. The airport concession charge is in
17addition to any customer facility charge or any other charge.
18    (g) Every person renting a motor vehicle to another shall
19keep a record of the registration number of the motor vehicle
20so rented, the name and address of the person to whom the
21vehicle is rented, the number of the license, if any, of said
22latter person, and the date and place when and where the
23license, if any, was issued. Such record shall be open to
24inspection by any police officer or designated agent of the
25Secretary of State.
26    (h) A person licensed as a new car dealer under Section

 

 

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15-101 of this Code shall not be subject to the provisions of
2this Section regarding the rental of private passenger motor
3vehicles when providing, free of charge, temporary substitute
4vehicles for customers to operate during a period when a
5customer's vehicle, which is either leased or owned by that
6customer, is being repaired, serviced, replaced or otherwise
7made unavailable to the customer in accordance with an
8agreement with the licensed new car dealer or vehicle
9manufacturer, so long as the customer orally or in writing is
10made aware that the temporary substitute vehicle will be
11covered by his or her insurance policy and the customer shall
12only be liable to the extent of any amount deductible from such
13insurance coverage in accordance with the terms of the policy.
14    (i) This Section, except the requirements of subsection
15(g), also applies to rental agreements of 30 continuous days or
16less involving a motor vehicle that was delivered by an out of
17State person or business to a renter in this State.
18    (j) A public airport may, if approved by its local
19government corporate authorities or its airport authority,
20impose a customer facility charge upon customers of rental car
21companies for the purposes of financing, designing,
22constructing, operating, and maintaining consolidated car
23rental facilities and common use transportation equipment and
24facilities, which are used to transport the customer,
25connecting consolidated car rental facilities with other
26airport facilities.

 

 

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1    Notwithstanding subsection (f) of this Section, the
2customer facility charge shall be collected by the rental car
3company as a separate charge, and clearly indicated as a
4separate charge on the rental agreement and invoice. Facility
5charges shall be immediately deposited into a trust account for
6the benefit of the airport and remitted at the direction of the
7airport, but not more often than once per month. The charge
8shall be uniformly calculated on a per-contract or per-day
9basis. Facility charges imposed by the airport may not exceed
10the reasonable costs of financing, designing, constructing,
11operating, and maintaining the consolidated car rental
12facilities and common use transportation equipment and
13facilities and may not be used for any other purpose.
14    Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the charges
15collected under this Section are not subject to retailer
16occupation, sales, use, or transaction taxes.
17    (k) When a rental car company states a rental rate in any
18of its rate advertisements, its proprietary computer
19reservation systems, or its in-person quotations intended to
20apply to an airport rental, a company that collects from its
21customers a customer facility charge for that rental under
22subsection (j) shall do all of the following:
23        (1) Clearly and conspicuously disclose in any radio,
24    television, or other electronic media advertisements the
25    existence and amount of the charge if the advertisement is
26    intended for rentals at an airport imposing the charge or,

 

 

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1    if the advertisement covers an area with multiple airports
2    with different charges, a range of amounts of customer
3    facility charges if the advertisement is intended for
4    rentals at an airport imposing the charge.
5        (2) Clearly and conspicuously disclose in any print
6    rate advertising the existence and amount of the charge if
7    the advertisement is intended for rentals at an airport
8    imposing the charge or, if the print rate advertisement
9    covers an area with multiple airports with different
10    charges, a range of amounts of customer facility charges if
11    the advertisement is intended for rentals at an airport
12    imposing the charge.
13        (3) Clearly and conspicuously disclose the existence
14    and amount of the charge in any telephonic, in-person, or
15    computer-transmitted quotation from the rental car
16    company's proprietary computer reservation system at the
17    time of making an initial quotation of a rental rate if the
18    quotation is made by a rental car company location at an
19    airport imposing the charge and at the time of making a
20    reservation of a rental car if the reservation is made by a
21    rental car company location at an airport imposing the
22    charge.
23        (4) Clearly and conspicuously display the charge in any
24    proprietary computer-assisted reservation or transaction
25    directly between the rental car company and the customer,
26    shown or referenced on the same page on the computer screen

 

 

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1    viewed by the customer as the displayed rental rate and in
2    a print size not smaller than the print size of the rental
3    rate.
4        (5) Clearly and conspicuously disclose and separately
5    identify the existence and amount of the charge on its
6    rental agreement.
7        (6) A rental car company that collects from its
8    customers a customer facility charge under subsection (j)
9    and engages in a practice which does not comply with
10    subsections (f), (j), and (k) commits an unlawful practice
11    within the meaning of the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive
12    Business Practices Act.
13    (l) Notwithstanding subsection (f), any person who rents a
14motor vehicle to another may, in connection with the rental of
15a motor vehicle to (i) a business renter or (ii) a business
16program sponsor under the sponsor's business program, do the
17following:
18        (1) separately quote, by telephone, in person, or by
19    computer transmission, additional charges for the rental;
20    and
21        (2) separately impose additional charges for the
22    rental.
23    (m) As used in this Section:
24        (1) "Additional charges" means charges other than: (i)
25    a per period base rental rate; (ii) a mileage charge; (iii)
26    taxes; or (iv) a customer facility charge. An additional

 

 

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1    charge shall not include any fee, surcharge, or fine amount
2    charged to the renter that is more than twice the toll
3    amount charged to the person's I-Pass or E-ZPass account
4    for the renter's use of the rental vehicle on a toll
5    highway operated by the Illinois State Toll Highway
6    Authority.
7        (2) "Business program" means:
8            (A) a contract between a person who rents motor
9        vehicles and a business program sponsor that
10        establishes rental rates at which the person will rent
11        motor vehicles to persons authorized by the sponsor; or
12            (B) a plan, program, or other arrangement
13        established by a person who rents motor vehicles at the
14        request of, or with the consent of, a business program
15        sponsor under which the person offers to rent motor
16        vehicles to persons authorized by the sponsor on terms
17        that are not the same as those generally offered by the
18        rental company to the public.
19        (3) "Business program sponsor" means any legal entity
20    other than a natural person, including a corporation,
21    limited liability company, partnership, government,
22    municipality or agency, or a natural person operating a
23    business as a sole proprietor.
24        (4) "Business renter" means any person renting a motor
25    vehicle for business purposes or, for any business program
26    sponsor, a person who is authorized by the sponsor to enter

 

 

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1    into a rental contract under the sponsor's business
2    program. "Business renter" does not include a person
3    renting as:
4            (A) a non-employee member of a not-for-profit
5        organization;
6            (B) the purchaser of a voucher or other prepaid
7        rental arrangement from a person, including a tour
8        operator, engaged in the business of reselling those
9        vouchers or prepaid rental arrangements to the general
10        public;
11            (C) an individual whose car rental is eligible for
12        reimbursement in whole or in part as a result of the
13        person being insured or provided coverage under a
14        policy of insurance issued by an insurance company; or
15            (D) an individual whose car rental is eligible for
16        reimbursement in whole or in part as a result of the
17        person purchasing motor vehicle repair services from a
18        person licensed to perform those services.
19(Source: P.A. 97-595, eff. 8-26-11.)
 
20    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
21becoming law.