Except as otherwise provided in this section, any depository institution which fails to comply with any requirement imposed pursuant to this article shall be liable to the aggrieved party in an amount equal to the sum of any actual damage sustained by the person as a result of the failure; and, in the case of an individual action an additional amount as the court may allow, except that the amount shall not be less than fifty dollars ($50) or greater than five hundred dollars ($500); or, in the case of a class action, such amount as the court may allow, except that as to each member of the class no minimum recovery shall be applicable, and the total recovery in any class action or series of class actions arising out of the same failure to comply by the same depository institution shall not be more than the lesser of five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) or 1 percent of the net worth of the depository institution; and, in the case of any successful action to enforce the foregoing liability, the costs of the action, together with a reasonable attorney’s fee as determined by the court.
In determining the amount of award in any class action, the court shall consider, among other relevant factors, the amount of any actual damages awarded, the frequency and persistence of failures of compliance, the resources of the depository institution, the number of persons adversely affected, and the extent to which the failure of compliance was intentional.
A depository institution may not be held liable in any action brought under this section for a violation of this article if the violation was not intentional and resulted from a bona fide error notwithstanding the maintenance of procedures reasonably adapted to avoid any such error. Examples of a bona fide error include, but are not limited to, clerical, calculation, computer malfunction and programming, and printing errors. An error of legal judgment with respect to a person’s obligations under this article shall not constitute a bona fide error.
Any action under this section may be brought in any court of competent jurisdiction, within one year from the date of the occurrence of the violation.
No provision of this section imposing any liability shall apply to any act done or omitted in good faith in conformity with any rule, regulation, or interpretation thereof by the Federal Reserve Board 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 interpretations or approvals under such procedures as the board may prescribe therefor, notwithstanding that after any act or omission has occurred, the rule, regulation, interpretation, or approval is amended, rescinded, or determined by judicial or other authority to be invalid for any reason.
(Added by Stats. 2011, Ch. 243, Sec. 3. (SB 664) Effective January 1, 2012.)