15 U.S.C. § 1693f — Error resolution

Page 1650 TITLE 15—COMMERCE AND TRADE § 1693f 1 See References in Text note below. (b) In the case of preauthorized transfers from a consumer’s account to the same person which may vary in amount, the financial institution or designated payee shall, prior to each transfer, provide reasonable advance notice to the con- sumer, in accordance with regulations of the Bu- reau, of the amount to be transferred and the scheduled date of the transfer. (Pub. L. 90–321, title IX, § 907, as added Pub. L. 95–630, title XX, § 2001, Nov. 10, 1978, 92 Stat. 3733; amended Pub. L. 111–203, title X, § 1084(1), July 21, 2010, 124 Stat. 2081.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 2010—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 111–203 substituted ‘‘Bu- reau’’ for ‘‘Board’’. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE OF 2010 AMENDMENT Amendment by Pub. L. 111–203 effective on the des- ignated transfer date, see section 1100H of Pub. L. 111–203, set out as a note under section 552a of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees. § 1693f. Error resolution (a) Notification to financial institution of error If a financial institution, within sixty days after having transmitted to a consumer docu- mentation pursuant to section 1693d(a), (c), or (d) of this title or notification pursuant to sec- tion 1693d(b) of this title, receives oral or writ- ten notice in which the consumer— (1) sets forth or otherwise enables the finan- cial institution to identify the name and ac- count number of the consumer; (2) indicates the consumer’s belief that the documentation, or, in the case of notification pursuant to section 1693d(b) of this title, the consumer’s account, contains an error and the amount of such error; and (3) sets forth the reasons for the consumer’s belief (where applicable) that an error has oc- curred, the financial institution shall investigate the al- leged error, determine whether an error has oc- curred, and report or mail the results of such in- vestigation and determination to the consumer within ten business days. The financial institu- tion may require written confirmation to be provided to it within ten business days of an oral notification of error if, when the oral notifi- cation is made, the consumer is advised of such requirement and the address to which such con- firmation should be sent. A financial institution which requires written confirmation in accord- ance with the previous sentence need not provi- sionally recredit a consumer’s account in ac- cordance with subsection (c), nor shall the fi- nancial institution be liable under subsection (e) if the written confirmation is not received with- in the ten-day period referred to in the previous sentence. (b) Correction of error; interest If the financial institution determines that an error did occur, it shall promptly, but in no event more than one business day after such de- termination, correct the error, subject to sec- tion 1693g of this title, including the crediting of interest where applicable. (c) Provisional recredit of consumer’s account If a financial institution receives notice of an error in the manner and within the time period specified in subsection (a), it may, in lieu of the requirements of subsections (a) and (b), within ten business days after receiving such notice provisionally recredit the consumer’s account for the amount alleged to be in error, subject to section 1693g of this title, including interest where applicable, pending the conclusion of its investigation and its determination of whether an error has occurred. Such investigation shall be concluded not later than forty-five days after receipt of notice of the error. During the pend- ency of the investigation, the consumer shall have full use of the funds provisionally recred- ited. (d) Absence of error; finding; explanation If the financial institution determines after its investigation pursuant to subsection (a) or (c) that an error did not occur, it shall deliver or mail to the consumer an explanation of its find- ings within 3 business days after the conclusion of its investigation, and upon request of the con- sumer promptly deliver or mail to the consumer reproductions of all documents which the finan- cial institution relied on to conclude that such error did not occur. The financial institution shall include notice of the right to request re- productions with the explanation of its findings. (e) Treble damages If in any action under section 1693m 1 of this title, the court finds that— (1) the financial institution did not provi- sionally recredit a consumer’s account within the ten-day period specified in subsection (c), and the financial institution (A) did not make a good faith investigation of the alleged error, or (B) did not have a reasonable basis for be- lieving that the consumer’s account was not in error; or (2) the financial institution knowingly and willfully concluded that the consumer’s ac- count was not in error when such conclusion could not reasonably have been drawn from the evidence available to the financial institu- tion at the time of its investigation, then the consumer shall be entitled to treble damages determined under section 1693m(a)(1) 1 of this title. (f) Acts constituting error For the purpose of this section, an error con- sists of— (1) an unauthorized electronic fund transfer; (2) an incorrect electronic fund transfer from or to the consumer’s account; (3) the omission from a periodic statement of an electronic fund transfer affecting the con- sumer’s account which should have been in- cluded; (4) a computational error by the financial in- stitution; (5) the consumer’s receipt of an incorrect amount of money from an electronic terminal; Page 1651 TITLE 15—COMMERCE AND TRADE § 1693g 1 So in original. Probably should be ‘‘means’’. 2 See References in Text note below. (6) a consumer’s request for additional infor- mation or clarification concerning an elec- tronic fund transfer or any documentation re- quired by this subchapter; or (7) any other error described in regulations of the Bureau. (Pub. L. 90–321, title IX, § 908, as added Pub. L. 95–630, title XX, § 2001, Nov. 10, 1978, 92 Stat. 3733; amended Pub. L. 111–203, title X, § 1084(1), July 21, 2010, 124 Stat. 2081.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT Section 1693m of this title, referred to in subsec. (e), was in the original a reference to section 915 of Pub. L. 90–321, and was translated as meaning section 916 of Pub. L. 90–321 to reflect the probable intent of Congress and the renumbering of section 915 of Pub. L. 90–321 as section 916 by Pub. L. 111–24, title IV, § 401(1), May 22, 2009, 123 Stat. 1751. AMENDMENTS 2010—Subsec. (f)(7). Pub. L. 111–203 substituted ‘‘Bu- reau’’ for ‘‘Board’’. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE OF 2010 AMENDMENT Amendment by Pub. L. 111–203 effective on the des- ignated transfer date, see section 1100H of Pub. L. 111–203, set out as a note under section 552a of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees. § 1693g. Consumer liability (a) Unauthorized electronic fund transfers; limit A consumer shall be liable for any unauthor- ized electronic fund transfer involving the ac- count of such consumer only if the card or other means of access utilized for such transfer was an accepted card or other meanas 1 of access and if the issuer of such card, code, or other means of access has provided a means whereby the user of such card, code, or other means of access can be identified as the person authorized to use it, such as by signature, photograph, or fingerprint or by electronic or mechanical confirmation. In no event, however, shall a consumer’s liability for an unauthorized transfer exceed the lesser of— (1) $50; or (2) the amount of money or value of property or services obtained in such unauthorized elec- tronic fund transfer prior to the time the fi- nancial institution is notified of, or otherwise becomes aware of, circumstances which lead to the reasonable belief that an unauthorized electronic fund transfer involving the con- sumer’s account has been or may be effected. Notice under this paragraph is sufficient when such steps have been taken as may be reason- ably required in the ordinary course of busi- ness to provide the financial institution with the pertinent information, whether or not any particular officer, employee, or agent of the fi- nancial institution does in fact receive such information. Notwithstanding the foregoing, reimbursement need not be made to the consumer for losses the financial institution establishes would not have occurred but for the failure of the consumer to report within sixty days of transmittal of the statement (or in extenuating circumstances such as extended travel or hospitalization, with- in a reasonable time under the circumstances) any unauthorized electronic fund transfer or ac- count error which appears on the periodic state- ment provided to the consumer under section 1693d of this title. In addition, reimbursement need not be made to the consumer for losses which the financial institution establishes would not have occurred but for the failure of the consumer to report any loss or theft of a card or other means of access within two busi- ness days after the consumer learns of the loss or theft (or in extenuating circumstances such as extended travel or hospitalization, within a longer period which is reasonable under the cir- cumstances), but the consumer’s liability under this subsection in any such case may not exceed a total of $500, or the amount of unauthorized electronic fund transfers which occur following the close of two business days (or such longer period) after the consumer learns of the loss or theft but prior to notice to the financial institu- tion under this subsection, whichever is less. (b) Burden of proof In any action which involves a consumer’s li- ability for an unauthorized electronic fund transfer, the burden of proof is upon the finan- cial institution to show that the electronic fund transfer was authorized or, if the electronic fund transfer was unauthorized, then the burden of proof is upon the financial institution to estab- lish that the conditions of liability set forth in subsection (a) have been met, and, if the trans- fer was initiated after the effective date of sec- tion 1693c of this title, that the disclosures re- quired to be made to the consumer under section 1693c(a)(1) and (2) of this title were in fact made in accordance with such section. (c) Determination of limitation on liability In the event of a transaction which involves both an unauthorized electronic fund transfer and an extension of credit as defined in section 1602(e) 2 of this title pursuant to an agreement between the consumer and the financial institu- tion to extend such credit to the consumer in the event the consumer’s account is overdrawn, the limitation on the consumer’s liability for such transaction shall be determined solely in accordance with this section. (d) Restriction on liability Nothing in this section imposes liability upon a consumer for an unauthorized electronic fund transfer in excess of his liability for such a transfer under other applicable law or under any agreement with the consumer’s financial insti- tution. (e) Scope of liability Except as provided in this section, a consumer incurs no liability from an unauthorized elec- tronic fund transfer. (Pub. L. 90–321, title IX, § 909, as added Pub. L. 95–630, title XX, § 2001, Nov. 10, 1978, 92 Stat. 3734.)