Deceptive Business Practices
815 ILCS 505/10a — a suit for actual damages within 3 years, with attorney's fees possible
Unfair methods of competition and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in any trade or commerce are unlawful, including deception, fraud, false pretense, false promise, misrepresentation, or concealing or omitting a material fact intending that others rely on it, whether or not anyone was in fact misled or damaged.
Who handles this in Illinois: Illinois Attorney General, Consumer Fraud; and legal aid programs, lawyer referral and the state offices, listed in the Illinois directory.
- Anyone who suffers actual damage from a violation may sue the person who committed it.
- The court may award actual economic damages or other relief it deems proper, grant an injunction, and award reasonable attorney's fees and costs to the prevailing party.
- The suit may be filed where the business resides, has its principal place of business or does business, or where the transaction happened.
- The plaintiff mails a copy of the complaint, and later any judgment, to the Attorney General.
Three years. An action for damages under the Act is forever barred unless it is started within 3 years after the cause of action accrued.
Against a vehicle dealer, the Act requires proof of a public injury, a pattern, or an effect on consumers generally, and limits punitive damages to willful or intentional conduct.
Sources for this section (2)
- 815 ILCS 505/2 — 815 ILCS 505/2
- 815 ILCS 505/10a — Action for actual damages
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of October 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Illinois attorney.