1. Except as otherwise provided in this section, a creditor who, in violation of the provisions of the Truth in Lending Act other than its provisions concerning advertising of credit terms, fails to disclose information to a person entitled to the information under this chapter is liable to that person, in other than a class action, in an amount equal to the sum of the following:

 a. Twice the amount of the finance charge in connection with the transaction, but the liability pursuant to this paragraph shall be not less than two hundred dollars or more than two thousand dollars.
 b. In the case of a successful action to enforce the liability under paragraph “a”, the costs of the action together with reasonable attorney’s fees as determined by the court.

Terms Used In Iowa Code 537.5203

  • Account: means the same as defined in section 554. See Iowa Code 554E.1
  • Administrator: means the administrator designated in section 537. See Iowa Code 537.1301
  • Consumer: means the buyer, lessee, or debtor to whom credit is granted in a consumer credit transaction. See Iowa Code 537.1301
  • consumer loan: is a loan in which all of the following are applicable:
     (1) The person is regularly engaged in the business of making loans. See Iowa Code 537.1301
  • Credit: means the right granted by a person extending credit to a person to defer payment of debt, to incur debt and defer its payment, or to purchase property or services and defer payment therefor. See Iowa Code 537.1301
  • Creditor: means the person who grants credit in a consumer credit transaction or, except as otherwise provided, an assignee of a creditor's right to payment, but use of the term does not in itself impose on an assignee any obligation of the assignee's assignor. See Iowa Code 537.1301
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • Finance charge: The total cost of credit a customer must pay on a consumer loan, including interest. The Truth in Lending Act requires disclosure of the finance charge. Source: OCC
  • finance charge: means the sum of all charges payable directly or indirectly by the consumer and imposed directly or indirectly by the creditor as an incident to or as a condition of the extension of credit, including any of the following types of charges which are applicable:
     (1) Interest or any amount payable under a point, discount, or other system of charges, however denominated, except that with respect to a consumer credit sale of goods or services a cash discount of five percent or less of the stated price of goods or services which is offered to the consumer for payment by cash, check or the like either immediately or within a period of time, is not part of the finance charge for the purpose of determining maximum charges pursuant to section 537. See Iowa Code 537.1301
  • following: when used by way of reference to a chapter or other part of a statute mean the next preceding or next following chapter or other part. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • Lender: means a person who makes a loan or, except as otherwise provided in this chapter, a person who takes an assignment of a lender's right to payment, but use of the term does not in itself impose on an assignee any obligation of the lender. See Iowa Code 537.1301
  • Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
  • Loan: means any of the following, except as provided in paragraph "b":
     (1) The creation of debt by the lender's payment of or agreement to pay money to the debtor or to a third person for the account of the debtor. See Iowa Code 537.1301
  • Person: means :
     a. See Iowa Code 537.1301
  • Right of rescission: Right to cancel, within three business days, a contract that uses the home of a person as collateral, except in the case of a first mortgage loan. There is no fee to the borrower, who receives a full refund of all fees paid. The right of rescission is guaranteed by the Truth in Lending Act (TILA). Source: OCC
  • Sale: means any sale, offer for sale, or attempt to sell or lease any land, to the public in this state, for cash or on credit. See Iowa Code 543C.1
  • Seller: means a person who makes a sale or, except as otherwise provided in this chapter, a person who takes an assignment of the seller's right to payment, but use of the term does not in itself impose on an assignee any obligation of the seller. See Iowa Code 537.1301
  • state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories, and the words "United States" may include the said district and territories. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • Transaction: means a sale, trade, exchange, transfer, payment, or conversion of a digital asset or any other property or any other action or set of actions occurring between two or more persons relating to the conduct of business, commercial, or governmental affairs. See Iowa Code 554E.1
  • Truth in Lending Act: means Tit. See Iowa Code 537.1302
  • Truth in Lending Act: The Truth in Lending Act is a federal law that requires lenders to provide standardized information so that borrowers can compare loan terms. In general, lenders must provide information on Source: OCC
  • year: means twelve consecutive months. See Iowa Code 4.1
 2. A creditor has no liability under this section if within fifteen days after discovering an error, and prior to the institution of an action under this section or the receipt of written notice of the error, the creditor notifies the person concerned of the error and makes whatever adjustments in the appropriate account are necessary to assure that the person will not be required to pay a finance charge in excess of the amount or percentage rate actually disclosed. The administrator, and any official or agency of this state having supervisory authority over a creditor, shall give prompt notice to a creditor of any errors discovered pursuant to an examination or investigation of the transactions, business, records and acts of the creditor.
 3. A creditor may not be held liable in any action brought under this section for a violation of this chapter if the creditor shows by a preponderance of evidence that the violation was not intentional and resulted from a bona fide error notwithstanding the maintenance of procedures reasonably adapted to avoid the error.
 4. Any action which may be brought under this section against the original creditor in any credit transaction involving a security interest in land may be maintained against any subsequent assignee of the original creditor where the assignee, its subsidiaries, or affiliates were in a continuing business relationship with the original creditor either at the time the credit was extended or at the time of the assignment, unless the assignment was involuntary, or the assignee shows by a preponderance of evidence that it did not have reasonable grounds to believe that the original creditor was engaged in violations of this chapter and that it maintained procedures reasonably adapted to apprise it of the existence of the violations.
 5. An obligor or consumer has all rights under this chapter that the obligor or consumer has under the provisions of the Truth in Lending Act concerning a right of rescission as to certain transactions, and a creditor or other person has all liabilities and defenses under this section that the obligor or consumer has under the Truth in Lending Act.
 6. No action pursuant to this section may be brought more than one year after the date of the occurrence of the violation.
 7. In this section, creditor includes a person who in the ordinary course of business regularly extends or arranges for the extension of credit, or offers to arrange for the extension of credit, and includes the seller of an interest in land and the lender who makes a loan secured by an interest in land if, but for the rate of the finance charge made in the transaction, the sale or loan would be a consumer credit sale or consumer loan.
 8. The liability of a creditor under this section is in lieu of and not in addition to the creditor’s liability under the Truth in Lending Act. An action by a person with respect to a violation may not be maintained pursuant to this section if a final judgment has been rendered for or against that person with respect to the same violation pursuant to the Truth in Lending Act, and if a final judgment has been rendered in favor of a person pursuant to this section and thereafter a final judgment with respect to the same violation is rendered in favor of the same person pursuant to the Truth in Lending Act, a creditor liable under both judgments has a cause of action against that person for appropriate relief to the extent necessary to avoid double liability with respect to the same violation.
 9. The administrator shall adopt rules to keep this section in harmony with the Truth in Lending Act. These rules supersede any provisions of this section which are inconsistent with the Truth in Lending Act as adopted by section 537.1302.
  Previous section
Next section  
 Chapter 537 Contents