Determination to Impose Civil Penalty and Amount Thereof

  1. Law
  2. Georgia Code
  3. Commerce and Trade
  4. Selling and Other Trade Practices
  5. Unfair or Deceptive Practices Toward the Elderly
  6. Determination to Impose Civil Penalty and Amount Thereof

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In determining whether to impose a civil penalty under Code Section 10-1-851 and the amount thereof, the court shall consider the extent to which one or more of the following factors are present:

  1. Whether the defendant's conduct was in disregard of the rights of the elder or disabled persons;
  2. Whether the defendant knew or should have known that the defendant's conduct was directed to an elder person or disabled person;
  3. Whether the elder or disabled person was more vulnerable to the defendant's conduct because of age, poor health, infirmity, impaired understanding, restricted mobility, or disability than other persons and whether the elder or disabled person actually suffered substantial physical, emotional, or economic damage resulting from the defendant's conduct;
  4. Whether the defendant's conduct caused an elder or disabled person to suffer any of the following:
    1. Mental or emotional anguish;
    2. Loss of or encumbrance upon a primary residence of the elder or disabled person;
    3. Loss of or encumbrance upon the elder or disabled person's principal employment or principal source of income;
    4. Loss of funds received under a pension or retirement plan or a government benefits program;
    5. Loss of property set aside for retirement or for personal or family care and maintenance; or
    6. Loss of assets essential to the health and welfare of the elder or disabled person; or
  5. Any other factors the court deems appropriate.

(Code 1981, §10-1-852, enacted by Ga. L. 1993, p. 1092, § 2; Ga. L. 2015, p. 1088, § 10/SB 148.)

Editor's notes.

- Ga. L. 2015, p. 1088, § 10/SB 148, effective July 1, 2015, reenacted this Code section without change.

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Complaint only need allege one elderly victim.

- In an action in which the plaintiff consumer filed a complaint under the Georgia Fair Business Practices Act (FBPA), O.C.G.A. § 10-1-390 et seq., and the Georgia Unfair or Deceptive Practices Toward the Elderly Act, O.C.G.A. § 10-1-850 et seq., and the lender argued for dismissal because the language of O.C.G.A. § 10-1-851 required conduct directed at more than one elderly person, the argument was rejected; consistent with O.C.G.A. § 1-3-1(d)(6), and the use of plurals or the singular form in O.C.G.A. §§ 10-1-850,10-1-852, and10-1-853, O.C.G.A. § 10-1-851 required only a showing that FBPA was violated against one elderly person. Kitchen v. Ameriquest Mortg. Co., F. Supp. 2d (N.D. Ga. Apr. 29, 2005).


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