§1679g — Title 15 Commerce and Trade | U.S. Code

Summary

Lets a person harmed by a credit repair company get money from that company. The person can recover either the actual loss they suffered or any money they paid to the company, whichever is larger. A court can also add extra money in an individual case. In a class action, the court can award extra money for each named plaintiff and for each class member, even if some recoveries are very small. A successful plaintiff can also get the lawsuit costs and reasonable lawyer fees. When deciding how much extra money to award, the court looks at how often and how long the company broke the rules, how serious the violations were, whether the violations were intentional, and, in class cases, how many consumers were harmed.

Title 15, §1679g

Commerce and Trade — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Any person who fails to comply with any provision of this subchapter with respect to any other person shall be liable to such person in an amount equal to the sum of the amounts determined under each of the following paragraphs:

(1)The greater of—

(A)the amount of any actual damage sustained by such person as a result of such failure; or

(B)any amount paid by the person to the credit repair organization.

(2)(A)In the case of any action by an individual, such additional amount as the court may allow.

(B)In the case of a class action, the sum of—

(i)the aggregate of the amount which the court may allow for each named plaintiff; and

(ii)the aggregate of the amount which the court may allow for each other class member, without regard to any minimum individual recovery.

(3)In the case of any successful action to enforce any liability under paragraph (1) or (2), the costs of the action, together with reasonable attorneys’ fees.

(b)In determining the amount of any liability of any credit repair organization under subsection (a)(2), the court shall consider, among other relevant factors—

(1)the frequency and persistence of noncompliance by the credit repair organization;

(2)the nature of the noncompliance;

(3)the extent to which such noncompliance was intentional; and

(4)in the case of any class action, the number of consumers adversely affected.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

Section applicable after the end of the 6-month period beginning on Sept. 30, 1996, except with respect to contracts entered into by a credit repair organization before the end of such period, see section 413 of Pub. L. 90–321, as added by Pub. L. 104–208, set out as a note under section 1679 of this title.

§1679g Civil liability

Summary

Title 15, §1679g

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

Citations & Metadata