679.625 Remedies for failure to comply with article. - Florida Statutes

679.625 Remedies for failure to comply with article.

   (1) If it is established that a secured party is not proceeding in accordance with this chapter, a court may order or restrain collection, enforcement, or disposition of collateral on appropriate terms and conditions. This subsection shall not preclude a debtor other than a consumer and a secured party, or two or more secured parties in other than a consumer transaction, from agreeing in an authenticated record that the debtor or secured party must first provide to the alleged offending secured party notice of a violation of this chapter and opportunity to cure before commencing any legal proceeding under this section.

   (2) Subject to subsections (3), (4), and (6), a person is liable for damages in the amount of any loss caused by a failure to comply with this chapter, including damages suffered by the debtor resulting from the debtor’s inability to obtain, or increased costs of, alternative financing, but not including consequential, special, or penal damages, unless the conduct giving rise to the failure constitutes an independent claim under the laws of this state other than this chapter and then only to the extent otherwise recoverable under law.

   (3) Except as otherwise provided in s. 679.628:

   (a) A person who, at the time of the failure, was a debtor, was an obligor, or held a security interest in or other lien on the collateral may recover damages under subsection (2) for the person’s loss; and

   (b) If the collateral is consumer goods, a person who was a debtor or a secondary obligor at the time a secured party failed to comply with this part may recover for that failure in any event an amount not less than the credit service charge plus 10 percent of the principal amount of the obligation or the time-price differential plus 10 percent of the cash price.

   (4) A debtor whose deficiency is eliminated under s. 679.626 may recover damages for the loss of any surplus. However, a debtor or secondary obligor whose deficiency is eliminated or reduced under s. 679.626 may not otherwise recover under subsection (2) for noncompliance with the provisions of this part relating to collection, enforcement, disposition, or acceptance.

   (5) In lieu of damages recoverable under subsection (2), the debtor, consumer obligor, or person named as a debtor in a filed record, as applicable, may recover $500 in each case from a person who:

   (a) Fails to comply with s. 679.2081;

   (b) Fails to comply with s. 679.209;

   (c) Files a record that the person is not entitled to file under s. 679.509(1);

   (d) Fails to cause the secured party of record to file or send a termination statement as required by s. 679.513(1) or (3) after receipt of an authenticated record notifying the person of such noncompliance;

   (e) Fails to comply with s. 679.616(2)(a) and whose failure is part of a pattern, or consistent with a practice, of noncompliance; or

   (f) Fails to comply with s. 679.616(2)(b).

   (6) A debtor or consumer obligor may recover damages under subsection (2) and, in addition, $500 in each case from a person who, without reasonable cause, fails to comply with a request under s. 679.210. A recipient of a request under s. 679.210 which never claimed an interest in the collateral or obligations that are the subject of a request under that section has a reasonable excuse for failure to comply with the request within the meaning of this subsection.

   (7) If a secured party fails to comply with a request regarding a list of collateral or a statement of account under s. 679.210, the secured party may claim a security interest only as shown in the list or statement included in the request as against a person who is reasonably misled by the failure.

History. s. 7, ch. 2001-198; s. 14, ch. 2002-242.