An elder or disabled person who suffers damage or injury as a result of an offense or violation described in this article has a cause of action to recover actual damages, punitive damages, if appropriate, and reasonable attorney's fees. Restitution ordered pursuant to this Code section has priority over a civil penalty imposed pursuant to this article.
(Code 1981, §10-1-853, 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).