(a) Any creditor who fails to comply with any requirement of Section 1787.2 shall be liable for any actual damages sustained by an applicant as a result of such failure.
(b) Any creditor, other than a government or governmental subdivision or agency, who fails to comply with any requirement imposed under this title shall be liable to the aggrieved applicant for punitive damages in an amount not greater than ten thousand dollars ($10,000), in addition to any actual damages provided in subdivision (a), except that in the case of a class action the total recovery under this subdivision shall not exceed the lesser of five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) or 1 percent of the net worth of the creditor. In determining the amount of such damages in any action, the court shall consider, among other relevant factors, the amount of any actual damages awarded, the frequency and persistence of failures of compliance by the creditor, the resources of the creditor, the number of persons adversely affected, and the extent to which the creditor’s failure of compliance was intentional.
(c) In the case of any action brought by an aggrieved applicant under subdivision (a) or (b), the costs of the action, together with a reasonable attorney’s fee as determined by the court, shall be added to any damages awarded by the court.
(d) No provision of this title imposing liability shall apply to any act done or omitted in good faith in conformity with any official rule, regulation, or interpretation thereby by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System or in conformity with any interpretation or approval by an official or employee of the Federal Reserve System duly authorized by the board to issue such interpretations or approvals under such procedures as the board may prescribe therefor, notwithstanding that after such act or omission has occurred, such rule, regulation, interpretation, or approval is amended, rescinded, or determined by judicial or other authority to be invalid for any reason.
(e) Actions alleging a failure to comply with any requirement of Section 1787.2 shall be brought within two years from the date of the occurrence of the violation.
(Added by Stats. 1976, Ch. 1072.)