98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2013 and 2014
HB3704

 

Introduced , by Rep. La Shawn K. Ford

 

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

    Amends the Illinois Vehicle Code. Provides that a person renting a motor vehicle to another must provide a full tank of fuel or else the renter may not be charged for refueling the vehicle upon its return. Requires the renter and the person renting the vehicle, or their agent, to indicate the fuel level at the time of rental on the rental agreement. Provides that the rental agreement must include a notice that the renter may not be charged for refueling unless the vehicle had a full tank of gas at the time of the rental.


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A BILL FOR

 

HB3704LRB098 14209 MLW 48808 b

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. In addition to the
20rental rate, taxes, mileage charge, and airport concession
21charge, if any, such person may charge for an item or service
22provided in connection with a particular rental transaction if
23the renter can avoid incurring the charge by choosing not to
24obtain or utilize the optional item or service. Items and
25services for which such person may impose an additional charge
26include, but are not limited to, optional insurance and

 

 

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1accessories requested by the renter, service charges incident
2to the renter's optional return of the vehicle to a location
3other than the location where the vehicle was hired or leased,
4and charges for refueling the vehicle at the conclusion of the
5rental transaction in the event the renter did not return the
6vehicle with as much fuel as was in the fuel tank at the
7beginning of the rental. "Airport concession charge" means a
8charge or fee imposed and collected from a renter to reimburse
9the motor vehicle rental company for the concession fee it is
10required to pay to a local government corporate authority or
11airport authority to rent motor vehicles at the airport
12facility. The airport concession charge is in addition to any
13customer facility charge or any other charge.
14    (f-5) No person shall rent a motor vehicle without a full
15tank of fuel at the beginning of the rental to another, unless
16the renter will not be charged for refueling the vehicle at the
17conclusion of the rental transaction. The rental agreement must
18include a section indicating the level of fuel in the motor
19vehicle being rented, and this section must be signed by both
20the renter and the person renting the vehicle, or their agent,
21attesting that the indicated level of fuel is correct. The
22rental agreement must contain the following statement:
23    "NOTICE: UNDER ILLINOIS LAW, YOU MAY NOT BE CHARGED FOR
24    FAILING TO REFUEL THE MOTOR VEHICLE UNLESS THE VEHICLE'S
25    FUEL TANK WAS FULL AT THE TIME OF RENTAL."
26    (g) Every person renting a motor vehicle to another shall

 

 

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1keep a record of the registration number of the motor vehicle
2so rented, the name and address of the person to whom the
3vehicle is rented, the number of the license, if any, of said
4latter person, and the date and place when and where the
5license, if any, was issued. Such record shall be open to
6inspection by any police officer or designated agent of the
7Secretary of State.
8    (h) A person licensed as a new car dealer under Section
95-101 of this Code shall not be subject to the provisions of
10this Section regarding the rental of private passenger motor
11vehicles when providing, free of charge, temporary substitute
12vehicles for customers to operate during a period when a
13customer's vehicle, which is either leased or owned by that
14customer, is being repaired, serviced, replaced or otherwise
15made unavailable to the customer in accordance with an
16agreement with the licensed new car dealer or vehicle
17manufacturer, so long as the customer orally or in writing is
18made aware that the temporary substitute vehicle will be
19covered by his or her insurance policy and the customer shall
20only be liable to the extent of any amount deductible from such
21insurance coverage in accordance with the terms of the policy.
22    (i) This Section, except the requirements of subsection
23(g), also applies to rental agreements of 30 continuous days or
24less involving a motor vehicle that was delivered by an out of
25State person or business to a renter in this State.
26    (j) A public airport may, if approved by its local

 

 

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1government corporate authorities or its airport authority,
2impose a customer facility charge upon customers of rental car
3companies for the purposes of financing, designing,
4constructing, operating, and maintaining consolidated car
5rental facilities and common use transportation equipment and
6facilities, which are used to transport the customer,
7connecting consolidated car rental facilities with other
8airport facilities.
9    Notwithstanding subsection (f) of this Section, the
10customer facility charge shall be collected by the rental car
11company as a separate charge, and clearly indicated as a
12separate charge on the rental agreement and invoice. Facility
13charges shall be immediately deposited into a trust account for
14the benefit of the airport and remitted at the direction of the
15airport, but not more often than once per month. The charge
16shall be uniformly calculated on a per-contract or per-day
17basis. Facility charges imposed by the airport may not exceed
18the reasonable costs of financing, designing, constructing,
19operating, and maintaining the consolidated car rental
20facilities and common use transportation equipment and
21facilities and may not be used for any other purpose.
22    Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the charges
23collected under this Section are not subject to retailer
24occupation, sales, use, or transaction taxes.
25    (k) When a rental car company states a rental rate in any
26of its rate advertisements, its proprietary computer

 

 

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1reservation systems, or its in-person quotations intended to
2apply to an airport rental, a company that collects from its
3customers a customer facility charge for that rental under
4subsection (j) shall do all of the following:
5        (1) Clearly and conspicuously disclose in any radio,
6    television, or other electronic media advertisements the
7    existence and amount of the charge if the advertisement is
8    intended for rentals at an airport imposing the charge or,
9    if the advertisement covers an area with multiple airports
10    with different charges, a range of amounts of customer
11    facility charges if the advertisement is intended for
12    rentals at an airport imposing the charge.
13        (2) Clearly and conspicuously disclose in any print
14    rate advertising the existence and amount of the charge if
15    the advertisement is intended for rentals at an airport
16    imposing the charge or, if the print rate advertisement
17    covers an area with multiple airports with different
18    charges, a range of amounts of customer facility charges if
19    the advertisement is intended for rentals at an airport
20    imposing the charge.
21        (3) Clearly and conspicuously disclose the existence
22    and amount of the charge in any telephonic, in-person, or
23    computer-transmitted quotation from the rental car
24    company's proprietary computer reservation system at the
25    time of making an initial quotation of a rental rate if the
26    quotation is made by a rental car company location at an

 

 

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1    airport imposing the charge and at the time of making a
2    reservation of a rental car if the reservation is made by a
3    rental car company location at an airport imposing the
4    charge.
5        (4) Clearly and conspicuously display the charge in any
6    proprietary computer-assisted reservation or transaction
7    directly between the rental car company and the customer,
8    shown or referenced on the same page on the computer screen
9    viewed by the customer as the displayed rental rate and in
10    a print size not smaller than the print size of the rental
11    rate.
12        (5) Clearly and conspicuously disclose and separately
13    identify the existence and amount of the charge on its
14    rental agreement.
15        (6) A rental car company that collects from its
16    customers a customer facility charge under subsection (j)
17    and engages in a practice which does not comply with
18    subsections (f), (j), and (k) commits an unlawful practice
19    within the meaning of the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive
20    Business Practices Act.
21    (l) Notwithstanding subsection (f), any person who rents a
22motor vehicle to another may, in connection with the rental of
23a motor vehicle to (i) a business renter or (ii) a business
24program sponsor under the sponsor's business program, do the
25following:
26        (1) separately quote, by telephone, in person, or by

 

 

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1    computer transmission, additional charges for the rental;
2    and
3        (2) separately impose additional charges for the
4    rental.
5    (m) As used in this Section:
6        (1) "Additional charges" means charges other than: (i)
7    a per period base rental rate; (ii) a mileage charge; (iii)
8    taxes; or (iv) a customer facility charge.
9        (2) "Business program" means:
10            (A) a contract between a person who rents motor
11        vehicles and a business program sponsor that
12        establishes rental rates at which the person will rent
13        motor vehicles to persons authorized by the sponsor; or
14            (B) a plan, program, or other arrangement
15        established by a person who rents motor vehicles at the
16        request of, or with the consent of, a business program
17        sponsor under which the person offers to rent motor
18        vehicles to persons authorized by the sponsor on terms
19        that are not the same as those generally offered by the
20        rental company to the public.
21        (3) "Business program sponsor" means any legal entity
22    other than a natural person, including a corporation,
23    limited liability company, partnership, government,
24    municipality or agency, or a natural person operating a
25    business as a sole proprietor.
26        (4) "Business renter" means any person renting a motor

 

 

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