Virginia Code 6.2-505: Remedies for violation
A. Any creditor who fails to comply with any requirement imposed under this chapter shall be liable to the aggrieved applicant in an amount equal to the sum of any actual damages sustained by such applicant.
Terms Used In Virginia Code 6.2-505
- Applicant: means any person who applies to a creditor directly for an extension, renewal, or continuation of credit, or applies to a creditor indirectly by use of an existing credit plan for an amount exceeding the previously established credit limit. See Virginia Code 6.2-500
- Creditor: means any person who regularly extends, renews, or continues credit; any person who regularly arranges for the extension, renewal, or continuation of credit; or any assignee of an original creditor who participates in the decision to extend, renew, or continue credit. See Virginia Code 6.2-500
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. Source: U.S. Courts
- State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-245
B. Any creditor, other than the federal or state government or any political subdivision or agency of such government, who fails to comply with any requirement imposed under this chapter shall be liable to the aggrieved applicant for punitive damages in an amount not greater than $10,000, as determined by the court, in addition to any actual damages provided in subsection A.
C. Upon application by an aggrieved applicant, an appropriate court may grant such equitable and declaratory relief as is necessary to enforce the requirements imposed under this chapter.
D. In the case of any successful action to enforce the foregoing liability, the costs of the action, together with the reasonable attorney fee as determined by the court, shall be added to any damages awarded by the court under the provisions of subsections A, B, and C.
E. Any action under this chapter may be brought in an appropriate court within two years from the date of the occurrence of the violation.
1975, c. 627, § 59.1-21.23; 1977, c. 589; 2010, c. 794.