Sen. Suzy Glowiak Hilton

Filed: 3/24/2023

 

 


 

 


 
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1
AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 328

2    AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 328 by replacing
3everything after the enacting clause with the following:
 
4    "Section 5. The Automatic Contract Renewal Act is amended
5by changing Sections 5, 10, and 20 as follows:
 
6    (815 ILCS 601/5)
7    Sec. 5. Definitions. In this Act:
8    "Automatic renewal offer terms" means the following clear
9and conspicuous disclosures:
10        (1) that the paid subscription or purchasing agreement
11    will continue until the consumer cancels;
12        (2) the timeframe in which the consumer must cancel in
13    order to avoid being charged for a subsequent term;
14        (3) the recurring charges that will be charged to the
15    consumer's credit or debit card or payment account with a
16    third party as part of the automatic renewal contract, and

 

 

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1    that the amount of the charge may change, if that is the
2    case, and the amount to which the charge will change, if
3    known;
4        (4) the length of the automatic renewal term or that
5    the service is continuous, unless the length of the term
6    is chosen by the consumer; and
7        (5) the minimum purchase obligation, if any.
8    "Clear and conspicuous" means in larger type than the
9surrounding text, or in contrasting type, font, or color to
10the surrounding text of the same size, or set off from the
11surrounding text of the same size by symbols or other marks, in
12a manner that clearly calls attention to the language. In the
13case of an audio disclosure, "clear and conspicuous" means in
14a volume and cadence sufficient to be readily audible and
15understandable.
16    "Contract" means a written agreement between 2 or more
17parties.
18    "Parties" includes individuals and other legal entities,
19but does not include the federal government, this State or
20another state, or a unit of local government.
21(Source: P.A. 101-412, eff. 8-16-19; 102-558, eff. 8-20-21.)
 
22    (815 ILCS 601/10)
23    Sec. 10. Automatic renewal; requirements.
24    (a) Any person, firm, partnership, association, or
25corporation that sells or offers to sell any products or

 

 

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1services to a consumer pursuant to a contract, where such
2contract automatically renews unless the consumer cancels the
3contract, shall:
4        (i) disclose the automatic renewal offer terms clause
5    clearly and conspicuously in the contract before the
6    subscription or purchasing agreement is fulfilled and in
7    visual proximity, or in the case of an offer conveyed by
8    voice, in temporal proximity, to the request for consent
9    to the offer; , including the cancellation procedure.
10        (ii) not charge the consumer's credit or debit card or
11    other payment mechanism for an automatic renewal service
12    without first obtaining the consumer's consent to the
13    contract containing the automatic renewal offer terms;
14        (iii) provide an acknowledgment that includes the
15    automatic renewal offer terms, cancellation policy, and
16    information regarding how to cancel, which may be
17    accomplished by linking to a resource that provides
18    instructions that account for different platforms and
19    services, in a manner that is capable of being retained by
20    the consumer; and
21        (iv) if the offer includes a free gift or trial,
22    disclose how to cancel the contract, which may be
23    accomplished by linking to a resource that provides
24    instructions that account for different platforms and
25    services, and allow the consumer to cancel before the
26    consumer pays for the good or services.

 

 

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1    (b) Any person, firm, partnership, association, or
2corporation that sells or offers to sell any products or
3services to a consumer pursuant to a contract, where such
4contract term is a specified term of 12 months or more, and
5where such contract automatically renews for a specified term
6of more than one month unless the consumer cancels the
7contract, shall notify the consumer in writing of the
8automatic renewal. Written notice shall be provided to the
9consumer no less than 30 days and no more than 60 days before
10the cancellation deadline pursuant to the automatic renewal
11offer terms clause. Such written notice shall disclose clearly
12and conspicuously, in a retainable form:
13        (i) that unless the consumer cancels the contract it
14    will automatically renew; and
15        (ii) a mechanism for cancelling the contract, which
16    shall be offered in a manner in which the consumer
17    commonly interacts with the business; and where the
18    consumer can obtain details of the automatic renewal
19    provision and cancellation procedure (for example, by
20    contacting the business at a specified telephone number or
21    address or by referring to the contract).
22        (iii) the deadline by which the consumer must cancel
23    in order to avoid being charged for a subsequent term.
24    (b-5) A person, firm, partnership, association, or
25corporation that makes an automatic renewal offer or
26continuous service offer online shall provide a toll-free

 

 

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1telephone number, electronic mail address, a postal address if
2the seller directly bills the consumer, or another
3cost-effective, timely, and easy-to-use mechanism for
4cancellation that shall be described in the notice required in
5subsection (b). A consumer who accepts an automatic renewal or
6continuous service offer online must be allowed to terminate
7the automatic renewal or continuous service exclusively
8online, which may include a termination email formatted and
9provided by the business that a consumer can send to the
10business without additional information, or a link to a
11website or other online service consumers can use to cancel.
12    (c) A person, firm, partnership, association, or
13corporation will not be liable for a violation of this Act or
14the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act if
15such person, firm, partnership, association, or corporation
16demonstrates that, as part of its routine business practice:
17        (i) it has established and implemented written
18    procedures to comply with this Act and enforces compliance
19    with the procedures;
20        (ii) any failure to comply with this Act is the result
21    of error; and
22        (iii) where an error has caused a failure to comply
23    with this Act, it provides a full refund or credit for all
24    amounts billed to or paid by the consumer from the date of
25    the renewal until the date of the termination of the
26    account, or the date of the subsequent notice of renewal,

 

 

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1    whichever occurs first.
2(Source: P.A. 102-517, eff. 1-1-22.)
 
3    (815 ILCS 601/20)
4    Sec. 20. Applicability.
5    (a) This Act does not apply to a contract entered into
6before the effective date of this Act.
7    (b) This amendatory Act of the 93rd General Assembly does
8not apply to a contract entered into before the effective date
9of this amendatory Act of the 93rd General Assembly.
10    (c) This Act does not apply to business-to-business
11contracts.
12    (d) This Act does not apply to banks, trust companies,
13savings and loan associations, savings banks, or credit unions
14licensed or organized under the laws of any state or the United
15States, or any foreign bank maintaining a branch or agency
16licensed or organized under the laws of any state of the United
17States, or any subsidiary or affiliate thereof.
18    (e) This Act does not apply to a contract that is extended
19beyond the original term of the contract as the result of the
20consumer's initiation of a change in the original contract
21terms.
22    (f) This Act does not apply to a contract for the sale of
23any product or service by a provider that is subject to Article
24XXII of the Public Utilities Act.
25    (g) This Act does not apply to a party, or an affiliate of

 

 

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1the party, regulated by the Director of the Department of
2Insurance.
3(Source: P.A. 93-950, eff. 1-1-05.)".