(20 ILCS 5050/5)
(Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2016)
Sec. 5. Findings. The General Assembly finds as follows:
(1) In November, 2013, several tornadoes devastated
parts of many Illinois towns, including Brookport, Coal City/Braidwood, Gifford, New Minden, Pekin, and Washington. In previous years, Illinois has suffered natural disasters, such as the flooding that destroyed parts of southern Illinois in 1993. Storms, tornadoes, and flooding have affected numerous parts of the State nearly every year.
(2) Often, after natural disasters such as storms or
flooding, contractors from outside the local area where the disaster occurred come into the area and solicit business. In some cases, the contractors engage in high pressure sales tactics and collect large down payments from homeowners anxious to repair their homes after a disaster, and then fail to complete the work in a workmanlike manner or leave the area without even beginning the work. Homeowners are unable to reach the contractors either because the contractors provided a false physical address or telephone number or because the contractors are unresponsive to calls and letters.
(3) Each year, the Attorney General's office receives
a significant number of consumer complaints about home repair and construction, and such complaints rank among the top 10 consumer complaint types that office receives annually. These complaints often involve allegations of poor workmanship, failure to complete the contracted for work, or failure to begin the contracted for work. These complaints often arise after natural disasters, but the Attorney General's office also receives numerous complaints every year about routine home repair and construction outside of a natural disaster.
(4) The Attorney General wishes to explore whether
Illinois residents would benefit from legislation that requires home repair and construction contractors to obtain a license from the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation before offering home repair and construction services in Illinois and, if so, whether potential licensees and all their agents should be required to pass a proficiency test and meet certain qualifications as a condition of obtaining a license.
(Source: P.A. 98-1030, eff. 8-25-14.)
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