California Civil Code 1812.636 – (a) A consumer damaged by a violation of this title by a lessor …
(a) A consumer damaged by a violation of this title by a lessor is entitled to recover all of the following:
(1) Actual damages.
Terms Used In California Civil Code 1812.636
- Consumer: means a natural person or persons who rent or lease personal property from a lessor pursuant to a rental-purchase agreement or to whom a lessor offers personal property for use pursuant to a rental-purchase agreement. See California Civil Code 1812.622
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Lessor: means any person or entity that provides or offers to provide personal property for use by consumers pursuant to a rental-purchase agreement. See California Civil Code 1812.622
- Rental-purchase agreement: except as otherwise provided in this subdivision, means an agreement between a lessor and a consumer pursuant to which the lessor rents or leases, for valuable consideration, personal property for use by a consumer for personal, family, or household purposes for an initial term not exceeding four months that may be renewed or otherwise extended, if under the terms of the agreement the consumer acquires an option or other legally enforceable right to become owner of the property. See California Civil Code 1812.622
(2) Twenty-five percent of an amount equal to the total amount of payments required to obtain ownership if all payments were made under the rental-purchase agreement, but not less than one hundred dollars ($100) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000).
(3) The consumer’s reasonable attorney’s fees and court costs.
(4) Exemplary damages, in the amount the court deems proper, for intentional or willful violations of this title.
(5) Equitable relief as the court deems proper.
(b) Where more than one consumer is a party to a rental-purchase agreement, the limitations of subdivision (a) shall apply to all those consumers in the aggregate, and no more than one recovery shall be permitted for each violation.
(Added by Stats. 1994, Ch. 1026, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 1995.)