15 U.S.C. § 1681n — Civil liability for willful noncompliance

Page 1601 TITLE 15—COMMERCE AND TRADE § 1681n Federal Reserve Board and Federal Trade Commission, except as otherwise provided, see section 3 of Pub. L. 108–159, set out as a note under section 1681 of this title. EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1996 AMENDMENT Amendment by Pub. L. 104–208 effective 365 days after Sept. 30, 1996, with special rule for early compliance, see section 2420 of Pub. L. 104–208, set out as a note under section 1681a of this title. EFFECTIVE DATE Section effective upon the expiration of one hundred and eighty days following Oct. 26, 1970, see section 504(d) of Pub. L. 90–321, as added by Pub. L. 91–508, set out as a note under section 1681 of this title. REGULATIONS Pub. L. 108–159, title II, § 213(b), Dec. 4, 2003, 117 Stat. 1979, provided that: ‘‘Regulations required by section 615(d)(2) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act [15 U.S.C. 1681m(d)(2)], as amended by this section, shall be issued in final form not later than 1 year after the date of en- actment of this Act [Dec. 4, 2003].’’ § 1681n. Civil liability for willful noncompliance (a) In general Any person who willfully fails to comply with any requirement imposed under this subchapter with respect to any consumer is liable to that consumer in an amount equal to the sum of— (1)(A) any actual damages sustained by the consumer as a result of the failure or damages of not less than $100 and not more than $1,000; or (B) in the case of liability of a natural per- son for obtaining a consumer report under false pretenses or knowingly without a per- missible purpose, actual damages sustained by the consumer as a result of the failure or $1,000, whichever is greater; (2) such amount of punitive damages as the court may allow; and (3) in the case of any successful action to en- force any liability under this section, the costs of the action together with reasonable attorney’s fees as determined by the court. (b) Civil liability for knowing noncompliance Any person who obtains a consumer report from a consumer reporting agency under false pretenses or knowingly without a permissible purpose shall be liable to the consumer report- ing agency for actual damages sustained by the consumer reporting agency or $1,000, whichever is greater. (c) Attorney’s fees Upon a finding by the court that an unsuccess- ful pleading, motion, or other paper filed in con- nection with an action under this section was filed in bad faith or for purposes of harassment, the court shall award to the prevailing party at- torney’s fees reasonable in relation to the work expended in responding to the pleading, motion, or other paper. (d) Clarification of willful noncompliance For the purposes of this section, any person who printed an expiration date on any receipt provided to a consumer cardholder at a point of sale or transaction between December 4, 2004, and June 3, 2008, but otherwise complied with the requirements of section 1681c(g) of this title for such receipt shall not be in willful non- compliance with section 1681c(g) of this title by reason of printing such expiration date on the receipt. (Pub. L. 90–321, title VI, § 616, as added Pub. L. 91–508, title VI, § 601, Oct. 26, 1970, 84 Stat. 1134; amended Pub. L. 104–208, div. A, title II, § 2412(a)–(c), (e)(1), Sept. 30, 1996, 110 Stat. 3009–446; Pub. L. 110–241, § 3(a), June 3, 2008, 122 Stat. 1566.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 2008—Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 110–241 added subsec. (d). 1996—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 104–208, § 2412(a), designated existing provisions as subsec. (a), inserted heading, and in introductory provisions substituted ‘‘Any person who’’ for ‘‘Any consumer reporting agency or user of information which’’. Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 104–208, § 2412(b), amended par. (1) generally. Prior to amendment, par. (1) read as fol- lows: ‘‘any actual damages sustained by the consumer as a result of the failure;’’. Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 104–208, § 2412(c), added subsec. (b). Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 104–208, § 2412(e)(1), added subsec. (c). Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1996 AMENDMENT Amendment by Pub. L. 104–208 effective 365 days after Sept. 30, 1996, with special rule for early compliance, see section 2420 of Pub. L. 104–208, set out as a note under section 1681a of this title. EFFECTIVE DATE Section effective upon the expiration of one hundred and eighty days following Oct. 26, 1970, see section 504(d) of Pub. L. 90–321, as added by Pub. L. 91–508, set out as a note under section 1681 of this title. CONSTRUCTION Pub. L. 108–159, title III, § 312(f), Dec. 4, 2003, 117 Stat. 1993, provided that: ‘‘Nothing in this section, the amendments made by this section, or any other provi- sion of this Act [see Short Title of 2003 Amendment note set out under section 1601 of this title] shall be construed to affect any liability under section 616 or 617 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681n, 1681o) that existed on the day before the date of enactment of this Act [Dec. 4, 2003].’’ STATEMENT OF FINDINGS AND PURPOSE FOR 2008 AMENDMENT Pub. L. 110–241, § 2, June 3, 2008, 122 Stat. 1565, pro- vided that: ‘‘(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds as follows: ‘‘(1) The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act [of 2003] (commonly referred to as ‘FACTA’) [Pub. L. 108–159, see Short Title of 2003 Amendment note set out under section 1601 of this title] was enacted into law in 2003 and 1 of the purposes of such Act is to pre- vent criminals from obtaining access to consumers’ private financial and credit information in order to reduce identity theft and credit card fraud. ‘‘(2) As part of that law, the Congress enacted a re- quirement, through an amendment to the Fair Credit Reporting Act [15 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.], that no person that accepts credit cards or debit cards for the trans- action of business shall print more than the last 5 digits of the card number or the expiration date upon any receipt provided to the card holder at the point of the sale or transaction. ‘‘(3) Many merchants understood that this require- ment would be satisfied by truncating the account Page 1602 TITLE 15—COMMERCE AND TRADE § 1681o number down to the last 5 digits based in part on the language of the provision as well as the publicity in the aftermath of the passage of the law. ‘‘(4) Almost immediately after the deadline for compliance passed, hundreds of lawsuits were filed al- leging that the failure to remove the expiration date was a willful violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act even where the account number was properly truncated. ‘‘(5) None of these lawsuits contained an allegation of harm to any consumer’s identity. ‘‘(6) Experts in the field agree that proper trunca- tion of the card number, by itself as required by the amendment made by the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act [of 2003], regardless of the inclusion of the expiration date, prevents a potential fraudster from perpetrating identity theft or credit card fraud. ‘‘(7) Despite repeatedly being denied class certifi- cation, the continued appealing and filing of these lawsuits represents a significant burden on the hun- dreds of companies that have been sued and could well raise prices to consumers without corresponding consumer protection benefit. ‘‘(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act [amending this section and enacting provisions set out as notes under this section and section 1601 of this title] is to ensure that consumers suffering from any actual harm to their credit or identity are protected while simulta- neously limiting abusive lawsuits that do not protect consumers but only result in increased cost to business and potentially increased prices to consumers.’’ RETROACTIVE EFFECT OF 2008 AMENDMENT Pub. L. 110–241, § 3(b), June 3, 2008, 122 Stat. 1566, pro- vided that: ‘‘The amendment made by subsection (a) [amending this section] shall apply to any action, other than an action which has become final, that is brought for a violation of [section] 605(g) of the Fair Credit Re- porting Act [15 U.S.C. 1681c(g)] to which such amend- ment applies without regard to whether such action is brought before or after the date of the enactment of this Act [June 3, 2008].’’ § 1681o. Civil liability for negligent noncompli- ance (a) In general Any person who is negligent in failing to com- ply with any requirement imposed under this subchapter with respect to any consumer is lia- ble to that consumer in an amount equal to the sum of— (1) any actual damages sustained by the con- sumer as a result of the failure; and (2) in the case of any successful action to en- force any liability under this section, the costs of the action together with reasonable attorney’s fees as determined by the court. (b) Attorney’s fees On a finding by the court that an unsuccessful pleading, motion, or other paper filed in connec- tion with an action under this section was filed in bad faith or for purposes of harassment, the court shall award to the prevailing party attor- ney’s fees reasonable in relation to the work ex- pended in responding to the pleading, motion, or other paper. (Pub. L. 90–321, title VI, § 617, as added Pub. L. 91–508, title VI, § 601, Oct. 26, 1970, 84 Stat. 1134; amended Pub. L. 104–208, div. A, title II, § 2412(d), (e)(2), Sept. 30, 1996, 110 Stat. 3009–446, 3009–447; Pub. L. 108–159, title VIII, § 811(e), Dec. 4, 2003, 117 Stat. 2012.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 2003—Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 108–159 inserted ‘‘and’’ after semicolon at end. 1996—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 104–208, § 2412(d), designated existing provisions as subsec. (a), inserted heading, and substituted ‘‘Any person who’’ for ‘‘Any consumer re- porting agency or user of information which’’. Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 104–208, § 2412(e)(2), added subsec. (b). Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE OF 2003 AMENDMENT Amendment by Pub. L. 108–159 subject to joint regu- lations establishing effective dates as prescribed by Federal Reserve Board and Federal Trade Commission, except as otherwise provided, see section 3 of Pub. L. 108–159, set out as a note under section 1681 of this title. EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1996 AMENDMENT Amendment by Pub. L. 104–208 effective 365 days after Sept. 30, 1996, with special rule for early compliance, see section 2420 of Pub. L. 104–208, set out as a note under section 1681a of this title. EFFECTIVE DATE Section effective upon the expiration of one hundred and eighty days following Oct. 26, 1970, see section 504(d) of Pub. L. 90–321, as added by Pub. L. 91–508, set out as a note under section 1681 of this title. § 1681p. Jurisdiction of courts; limitation of ac- tions An action to enforce any liability created under this subchapter may be brought in any ap- propriate United States district court, without regard to the amount in controversy, or in any other court of competent jurisdiction, not later than the earlier of— (1) 2 years after the date of discovery by the plaintiff of the violation that is the basis for such liability; or (2) 5 years after the date on which the viola- tion that is the basis for such liability occurs. (Pub. L. 90–321, title VI, § 618, as added Pub. L. 91–508, title VI, § 601, Oct. 26, 1970, 84 Stat. 1134; amended Pub. L. 108–159, title I, § 156, Dec. 4, 2003, 117 Stat. 1968.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 2003—Pub. L. 108–159 reenacted section catchline without change and amended text generally. Prior to amendment, text read as follows: ‘‘An action to enforce any liability created under this subchapter may be brought in any appropriate United States district court without regard to the amount in controversy, or in any other court of competent jurisdiction, within two years from the date on which the liability arises, except that where a defendant has materially and willfully mis- represented any information required under this sub- chapter to be disclosed to an individual and the infor- mation so misrepresented is material to the establish- ment of the defendant’s liability to that individual under this subchapter, the action may be brought at any time within two years after discovery by the indi- vidual of the misrepresentation.’’ Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE OF 2003 AMENDMENT Amendment by Pub. L. 108–159 subject to joint regu- lations establishing effective dates as prescribed by