Title 10, Chapter 1, Section 15
( 10-1-15)
(a) Any person who shall willfully and intentionally violate any
provision of this article shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon
conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine not to exceed
$500.00 for the first offense and shall be punished as for a
misdemeanor for each subsequent offense. (b) A violation of subsection (d) of Code Section 10-1-3 shall bar recovery of any finance charge, delinquency, or collection charge on the contract. A violation of subsection (b) of Code Section 10-1-4 shall bar recovery of any finance charge, delinquency, or collection charge stated on or collected in connection with the statement on which any such violation shall occur. (c) In case of a willful violation of any provision of this article,
with respect to any transaction, the retail buyer in such
transaction may recover from the person committing the violation (or
may set off or counterclaim in any action by such person) a minimum
of $100.00 or double the time price differential and any delinquency
charge and any attorneys' fees and court costs charged and paid with
respect to such transaction; but the retail seller may recover from
the retail buyer an amount equal to the cash price of the goods or
services in such transaction and the cost of any insurance purchased
by the retail seller for the retail buyer in connection therewith. (d) Notwithstanding this Code section, any failure to comply with any provisions of subsection (d) of Code Section 10-1-3 may be corrected within ten days after the date of execution of the retail installment contract by the buyer; and, if so corrected, neither the seller nor the holder is subject to any penalty under this Code section. (e) A seller or holder shall not be held liable in any action
brought under this Code section for a violation of this article if
the seller or holder shows by clear and convincing evidence that the
violation was not intentional and resulted from a bona fide clerical
or typographical error. (f) The penalties under this Code section shall be the sole remedy
for violations of this article and a claim of violation of this
article may be asserted in an individual action only. |