Sen. Michael W. Halpin
Filed: 5/3/2023
 
 

 

 

 
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1
AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 3314 




2    AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 3314 by replacing 
3everything after the enacting clause with the following:

 
 
4    "Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the 
5Consumer Contract Reciprocal Attorney's Fees Act.
 
6    Section 5. Definitions. As used in this Act:
7    "Consumer contract" means any contract in which the money, 
8property, or service that is the subject of the transaction is 
9primarily for personal, family, or household purposes.
10    "Commercial party" means the person from whom money, 
11property, or services are acquired under the consumer contract 
12that is a seller, lender, participating lender, lessor, 
13creditor, or assignee.
14    "Debt buyer" has the meaning given to that term in Section 
152 of the Collection Agency Act.
 
 
 
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1    Section 10. Attorney's fees. If a consumer contract allows 
2for the recovery of attorney's fees in an action brought by a 
3commercial party to enforce the consumer contract, the court 
4may award reasonable attorney's fees to the defendant if the 
5defendant prevails in the action. A defendant prevails in an 
6action if:
7        (1) judgment is entered by the court in favor of the 
8    defendant;
9        (2) a motion to dismiss the case is filed by the 
10    defendant under Section 2-619 of the Code of Civil 
11    Procedure and is granted by the court; or
12        (3) the plaintiff voluntarily dismisses the pending 
13    case under Section 2-1009 of the Code of Civil Procedure 
14    after a trial date has been set and after the pending case 
15    has been previously filed on the same consumer contract 
16    and dismissed under Section 2-1009 of the Code of Civil 
17    Procedure.
 
18    Section 15. Applicability. 
19    (a) This Act applies to any action filed on or after the 
20effective date of this Act:
21        (1) with respect to any consumer contract entered into 
22    on or after the effective date of this Act; if the 
23    commercial party filing the action is a debt buyer, this 
24    Act applies irrespective of when the consumer contract was 
25    made or acquired by the debt buyer; and
 
 
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1        (2) if the principal amount claimed does not exceed 
2    the maximum amount of a judgment allowable for a small 
3    claim under the Illinois Supreme Court Rules.
4    (b) Notwithstanding subsection (a), this Act does not 
5apply if:
6        (1) the commercial party does not request attorney's 
7    fees in its complaint; or
8        (2) each party to the consumer contract was 
9    represented by counsel in the negotiation of the consumer 
10    contract.
 
11    Section 20. Right to attorney's fees not limited. Nothing 
12in this Act shall be construed to apply to or limit the rights 
13of any party to attorney's fees under any other contract or as 
14authorized in relation to consumer contracts under other 
15provisions of State law.".