California Civil Code 1747.60 – (a) Every retailer shall correct any billing error made by the …
(a) Every retailer shall correct any billing error made by the retailer within 60 days from the date on which an inquiry concerning a billing error was mailed.
(b) Any retailer who fails to correct a billing error made by the retailer within the period prescribed by subdivision (a) shall be liable to the cardholder in the amount by which the outstanding balance of the cardholder’s account is greater than the correct balance, and any interest, finance charges, service charges, or other charges on the obligation giving rise to the billing error.
Terms Used In California Civil Code 1747.60
- billing error: means an error by omission or commission in (1) posting any debit or credit, or (2) in computation or similar error of an accounting nature contained in a statement given to the cardholder by the card issuer. See California Civil Code 1747.02
- Cardholder: means a natural person to whom a credit card is issued for consumer credit purposes, or a natural person who has agreed with the card issuer to pay consumer credit obligations arising from the issuance of a credit card to another natural person. See California Civil Code 1747.02
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- inquiry: is a writing that is posted by mail to the address of the card issuer to which payments are normally tendered, unless another address is specifically indicated on the statement for that purpose, then to that other address, and that is received by the card issuer no later than 60 days after the card issuer transmitted the first periodic statement that reflects the alleged billing error, and that does all of the following:
California Civil Code 1747.02
- Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
- Retailer: means every person other than a card issuer who furnishes money, goods, services, or anything else of value upon presentation of a credit card by a cardholder. See California Civil Code 1747.02
(c) Any cardholder who is injured by a willful violation of this section may bring an action for the recovery of damages. Judgment may be entered for three times the amount at which actual damages are assessed. The cardholder shall be entitled to recover reasonable attorney’s fees and costs incurred in the action.
(d) As used in this section, an “inquiry” is a writing which is posted by mail to the address of the retailer, unless another address is specifically indicated by the retailer for the purpose of mailing inquiries with respect to billing errors, then to such address.
(Added by Stats. 1971, Ch. 1019.)