§ 1693f. — Error resolution.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 15USC1693f]
TITLE 15--COMMERCE AND TRADE
CHAPTER 41--CONSUMER CREDIT PROTECTION
SUBCHAPTER VI--ELECTRONIC FUND TRANSFERS
Sec. 1693f. Error resolution
(a) Notification to financial institution of error
If a financial institution, within sixty days after having
transmitted to a consumer documentation pursuant to section 1693d(a),
(c), or (d) of this title or notification pursuant to section 1693d(b)
of this title, receives oral or written notice in which the consumer--
(1) sets forth or otherwise enables the financial institution to
identify the name and account 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 occurred,
the financial institution shall investigate the alleged error, determine
whether an error has occurred, and report or mail the results of such
investigation and determination to the consumer within ten business
days. The financial institution may require written confirmation to be
provided to it within ten business days of an oral notification of error
if, when the oral notification is made, the consumer is advised of such
requirement and the address to which such confirmation should be sent. A
financial institution which requires written confirmation in accordance
with the previous sentence need not provisionally recredit a consumer's
account in accordance with subsection (c) of this section, nor shall the
financial institution be liable under subsection (e) of this section if
the written confirmation is not received within 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
determination, correct the error, subject to section 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) of this section,
it may, in lieu of the requirements of subsections (a) and (b) of this
section, 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 pendency of the investigation, the consumer shall
have full use of the funds provisionally recredited.
(d) Absence of error; finding; explanation
If the financial institution determines after its investigation
pursuant to subsection (a) or (c) of this section that an error did not
occur, it shall deliver or mail to the consumer an explanation of its
findings within 3 business days after the conclusion of its
investigation, and upon request of the consumer promptly deliver or mail
to the consumer reproductions of all documents which the financial
institution relied on to conclude that such error did not occur. The
financial institution shall include notice of the right to request
reproductions with the explanation of its findings.
(e) Treble damages
If in any action under section 1693m of this title, the court finds
that--
(1) the financial institution did not provisionally recredit a
consumer's account within the ten-day period specified in subsection
(c) of this section, 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 believing that the consumer's account was not
in error; or
(2) the financial institution knowingly and willfully concluded
that the consumer's account was not in error when such conclusion
could not reasonably have been drawn from the evidence available to
the financial institution at the time of its investigation,
then the consumer shall be entitled to treble damages determined under
section 1693m(a)(1) of this title.
(f) Acts constituting error
For the purpose of this section, an error consists 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 consumer's account which should have been
included;
(4) a computational error by the financial institution;
(5) the consumer's receipt of an incorrect amount of money from
an electronic terminal;
(6) a consumer's request for additional information or
clarification concerning an electronic fund transfer or any
documentation required by this subchapter; or
(7) any other error described in regulations of the Board.
(Pub. L. 90-321, title IX, Sec. 908, as added Pub. L. 95-630, title XX,
Sec. 2001, Nov. 10, 1978, 92 Stat. 3733.)
Section Referred to in Other Sections
This section is referred to in sections 1693c, 1693m of this title;
title 26 section 6311.
