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Article 1 - General Provisions

      (765 ILCS 101/Art. 1 heading)Article 1. General Provisions

(765 ILCS 101/1‑1)     Sec. 1‑1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Real Estate Timeshare Act of 1999. (Source: P.A. 91‑585, eff. 1‑1‑00.)

(765 ILCS 101/1‑5)     Sec. 1‑5. Intent. The intent of the General Assembly in enacting this Act is to regulate the business of timeshare plans, exchange programs, and resale agents for the protection of the public. (Source: P.A. 91‑585, eff. 1‑1‑00.)

    (765 ILCS 101/1‑10)
    Sec. 1‑10. Scope of Act.
    (a) This Act applies to all of the following:
        (1) Timeshare plans with an accommodation or

component site in Illinois.

(2) Timeshare plans without an accommodation or

component site in Illinois, if those timeshare plans are sold or offered to be sold to any individual located within Illinois.

(3) Exchange programs as defined in this Act.         (4) Resale agents as defined in this Act.     (b) Exemptions. This Act does not apply to the following:         (1) Timeshare plans, whether or not an

accommodation is located in Illinois, consisting of 7 or fewer timeshare periods, the use of which extends over any period of less than 3 years; or

(2) Timeshare plans, whether or not an

accommodation is located in Illinois, under which the prospective purchaser's total financial obligation will be less than $1,500 during the entire term of the timeshare plan.

(Source: P.A. 96‑738, eff. 8‑25‑09.)

    (765 ILCS 101/1‑15)
    Sec. 1‑15. Definitions. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires:
    "Accommodation" means any apartment, condominium or cooperative unit, cabin, lodge, hotel or motel room, or other private or commercial structure containing toilet facilities therein that is designed and available, pursuant to applicable law, for use and occupancy as a residence by one or more individuals, or any unit or berth on a commercial cruise line ship, which is included in the offering of a timeshare plan.
    "Acquisition agent" means a person who, directly or through the person's employees, agents, or independent contractors, induces or attempts to induce by means of a promotion or an advertisement any individual located within the State of Illinois to attend a sales presentation for a timeshare plan.
    "Advertisement" means any written, oral, or electronic communication that is directed to or targeted to persons within the State of Illinois and contains a promotion, inducement, or offer to sell a timeshare plan, including but not limited to brochures, pamphlets, radio and television scripts, electronic media, telephone and direct mail solicitations, and other means of promotion.
    "Association" means the organized body consisting of the purchasers of interests in a timeshare plan.
    "Assessment" means the share of funds required for the payment of common expenses which is assessed from time to time against each purchaser by the managing entity.
    "Component site" means a specific geographic location where accommodations which are part of a multi‑site timeshare plan are located. Separate phases of a single timeshare property in a specific geographic location and under common management shall be deemed a single component site.
    "Department" means the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.
    "Developer" means and includes any person or entity, other than a sales agent, acquisition agent, or resale agent, who creates a timeshare plan or is in the business of selling timeshare interests, or employs agents to do the same, or any person or entity who succeeds to the interest of a developer by sale, lease, assignment, mortgage, or other transfer, but the term includes only those persons who offer timeshare interests for disposition in the ordinary course of business.
    "Dispose" or "disposition" means a voluntary transfer or assignment of any legal or equitable interest in a timeshare plan, other than the transfer, assignment, or release of a security interest.
    "Exchange company" means any person owning or operating, or both owning and operating, an exchange program.
    "Exchange program" means any method, arrangement, or procedure for the voluntary exchange of timeshare interests or other property interests. The term does not include the assignment of the right to use and occupy accommodations to owners of timeshare interests within a single‑site timeshare plan. Any method, arrangement, or procedure that otherwise meets this definition, wherein the purchaser's total contractual financial obligation exceeds $3,000 per any individual, recurring timeshare period, shall be regulated as a timeshare plan in accordance with this Act.
    "Managing entity" means the person who undertakes the duties, responsibilities, and obligations of the management of a timeshare plan.
    "Managing entity lien" means a lien created pursuant to Section 10‑45.
    "Offer" means any inducement, solicitation, or other attempt, whether by marketing, advertisement, oral or written presentation, or any other means, to encourage a person to acquire a timeshare interest in a timeshare plan, other than as security for an obligation.
    "Person" means a natural person, corporation, limited liability company, partnership, joint venture, association, estate, trust, government, governmental subdivision or agency, or other legal entity, or any combination thereof.
    "Promotion" means a plan or device, including one involving the possibility of a prospective purchaser receiving a vacation, discount vacation, gift, or prize, used by a developer, or an agent, independent contractor, or employee of any of the same on behalf of the developer, in connection with the offering and sale of timeshare interests in a timeshare plan.
    "Purchaser" means any person, other than a developer, who by means of a voluntary transfer acquires a legal or equitable interest in a timeshare plan other than as security for an obligation.
    "Purchase contract" means a document pursuant to which a person becomes legally obligated to sell, and a purchaser becomes legally obligated to buy, a timeshare interest.
    "Resale agent" means a person who, for another and for compensation, or with the intention or expectation of receiving compensation, either directly or indirectly sells, offers to sell, or advertises to sell within this State any timeshare interest previously sold to a purchaser or solicits within this State any owner of a timeshare interest to list the owner's timeshare interest, wherever located, for sale.
    "Reservation system" means the method, arrangement, or procedure by which a purchaser, in order to reserve the use or occupancy of any accommodation of a multi‑site timeshare plan for one or more timeshare periods, is required to compete with other purchasers in the same multi‑site timeshare plan, regardless of whether the reservation system is operated and maintained by the multi‑site timeshare plan managing entity, an exchange company, or any other person. In the event that a purchaser is required to use an exchange program as the purchaser's principal means of obtaining the right to use and occupy accommodations, that arrangement shall be deemed a reservation system. When an exchange company utilizes a mechanism for the exchange of use of timeshare periods among members of an exchange program, that utilization is not a reservation system of a multi‑site timeshare plan.    
    "Sales agent" means a person, other than a resale agent, who, directly or through the person's employees, agents, or independent contractors, sells or offers to sell timeshare interests in a timeshare plan to any individual located in the State of Illinois.
    "Timeshare instrument" means one or more documents, by whatever name denominated, creating or governing the operation of a timeshare plan.
    "Secretary" means the Secretary of the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, or a natural person authorized by the Secretary, the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, or this Act to act in the Secretary's stead.
    "Timeshare interest" means and includes either:
        (1) a "timeshare estate", which is the right to

occupy a timeshare property, coupled with a freehold estate or an estate for years with a future interest in a timeshare property or a specified portion thereof; or

(2) a "timeshare use", which is the right to

occupy a timeshare property, which right is neither coupled with a freehold interest, nor coupled with an estate for years with a future interest, in a timeshare property.

"Timeshare period" means the period or periods of time when the purchaser of a timeshare plan is afforded the opportunity to use the accommodations of a timeshare plan.     "Timeshare plan" means any arrangement, plan, scheme, or similar device, other than an exchange program, whether by membership agreement, sale, lease, deed, license, or right‑to‑use agreement or by any other means, whereby a purchaser, in exchange for consideration, receives ownership rights in or the right to use accommodations for a period of time less than a full year during any given year, but not necessarily for consecutive years. A timeshare plan may be:         (1) a "single‑site timeshare plan", which is the

right to use accommodations at a single timeshare property; or

(2) a "multi‑site timeshare plan", which includes:             (A) a "specific timeshare interest", which is

the right to use accommodations at a specific timeshare property, together with use rights in accommodations at one or more other component sites created by or acquired through the timeshare plan's reservation system; or

(B) a "non‑specific timeshare interest", which

is the right to use accommodations at more than one component site created by or acquired through the timeshare plan's reservation system, but including no specific right to use any particular accommodations.

"Timeshare property" means one or more accommodations subject to the same timeshare instrument, together with any other property or rights to property appurtenant to those accommodations. (Source: P.A. 96‑738, eff. 8‑25‑09.)

(765 ILCS 101/1‑20)     Sec. 1‑20. Estates and interests in property. Each timeshare estate constitutes, for purposes of title, a separate estate or interest in property except for real property tax purposes. (Source: P.A. 91‑585, eff. 1‑1‑00.)

(765 ILCS 101/1‑25)     Sec. 1‑25. Local powers; construction.     (a) Except as specifically provided in this Section, the regulation of timeshare plans and exchange programs is an exclusive power and function of the State. A unit of local government, including a home rule unit, may not regulate timeshare plans and exchange programs. This subsection is a denial and limitation of home rule powers and functions under subsection (h) of Section 6 of Article VII of the Illinois Constitution.     (b) Notwithstanding subsection (a), no provision of this Act invalidates or modifies any provision of any zoning, subdivision, or building code or other real estate use law, ordinance, or regulation.     Further, nothing in this Act shall be construed to affect or impair the validity of Section 11‑11.1‑1 of the Illinois Municipal Code or to deny to the corporate authorities of any municipality the powers granted in that Code to enact ordinances (i) prescribing fair housing practices, (ii) defining unfair housing practices, (iii) establishing fair housing or human relations commissions and standards for the operation of such commissions in the administration and enforcement of such ordinances, (iv) prohibiting discrimination based on age, ancestry, color, creed, mental or physical handicap, national origin, race, religion, or sex in the listing, sale, assignment, exchange, transfer, lease, rental, or financing of real property for the purpose of the residential occupancy thereof, and (v) prescribing penalties for violations of such ordinances. (Source: P.A. 91‑585, eff. 1‑1‑00.)

(765 ILCS 101/1‑30)     Sec. 1‑30. Creation of timeshare plans. A timeshare plan may be created in any accommodation unless otherwise prohibited. All timeshare plans must maintain a one‑to‑one purchaser‑to‑accommodation ratio, which means the ratio of the number of purchasers eligible to use the accommodations of a timeshare plan on a given day to the number of accommodations available for use within the plan on that day, such that the total number of purchasers eligible to use the accommodations of the timeshare plan during a given calendar year never exceeds the total number of accommodations available for use in the timeshare plan during that year. For purposes of the calculation under this Section, each purchaser must be counted at least once, and no individual accommodation may be counted more than 365 times per calendar year (or more than 366 times per leap year). A purchaser who is delinquent in the payment of timeshare plan assessments shall continue to be considered eligible to use the accommodations of the timeshare plan for purposes of calculating the one‑to‑one purchaser‑to‑accommodation ratio. (Source: P.A. 91‑585, eff. 1‑1‑00.)