Evergreen Contract Provisions

Any person, firm, partnership, association, or corporation that sells or offers to sell any products or services to a consumer pursuant to a contract, where such contract automatically renews unless the consumer cancels the contract, shall disclose the automatic renewal offer terms clearly and conspicuously in the contract before the subscription or purchasing agreement is fulfilled and in visual proximity, or in the case of an offer conveyed by voice, in temporal proximity, to the request for consent to the offer. Any person, firm, partnership, association, or corporation that sells or offers to sell any products or services to a consumer pursuant to a contract, where such contract term is a specified term of 12 months or more, and where such contract automatically renews for a specified term of more than one month unless the consumer cancels the contract, shall notify the consumer in writing of the automatic renewal. Written notice shall be provided to the consumer no less than 30 days and no more than 60 days before the cancellation deadline pursuant to the automatic renewal offer terms. (815 ILCS 601/10)

The Act provides that if a contract contains an automatic renewal clause, the clause must be disclosed in a clear and conspicuous manner, including the cancellation procedure. Ford v. Pac. Webworks, Inc., 09 C 7867, 2011 WL 529265, at *4 (N.D. Ill. Feb. 4, 2011)

A violation of the Act constitutes an unlawful practice under the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act. 815 ILCS 601/15. The Act does not apply, among other things, to business-to-business contracts or to banks, trust companies, savings and loan associations, savings banks, or credit unions licensed or organized under the laws of any state or the United States, or any foreign bank maintaining a branch or agency licensed or organized under the laws of any state of the United States, or any subsidiary or affiliate thereof. See 815 ILCS 601/20.