(1) (a) Any person who violates any provision of this article or any rule or regulation adopted pursuant to this article is subject to a civil penalty, as determined by the commissioner.
(b) (I) Before imposing any civil penalty, the commissioner shall consider the severity of the violation, the amount of harm caused by such violation, the presence or absence of a pattern of similar violations by the registrant, the effect of the proposed penalty on the ability of the registrant to continue to conduct business, and any other factors deemed relevant.
(II) The commissioner may request advice from the arbitration council in assessing a fine pursuant to this section.
(c) The maximum penalty imposed by the commissioner shall not exceed two thousand five hundred dollars per violation.
No civil penalty shall be imposed unless the person charged is given notice and anopportunity for a hearing pursuant to article 4 of title 24, C.R.S.
If the commissioner is unable to collect a civil penalty or if any person fails to pay allor a set portion of such civil penalty, the commissioner is authorized to retain the attorney general pursuant to section 35-27-116 to bring suit to recover such penalty. In any action brought pursuant to this section the commissioner shall be entitled to recover costs and reasonable attorney fees.
Source: L. 93: Entire article R&RE, p. 1015, § 1, effective July 1.
Editor's note: This section is similar to former §§ 35-27-114 and 35-27-115 as they existed prior to 1993.