§ 625 - Remedies for secured party's failure to comply with article - Vermont Statutes

§ 9-625. Remedies for secured party's failure to comply with article

(a) If it is established that a secured party is not proceeding in accordance with this article, a court may order or restrain collection, enforcement, or disposition of collateral on appropriate terms and conditions.

(b) Subject to subsections (c), (d), and (f), a person is liable for damages in the amount of any loss caused by a failure to comply with this article. Loss caused by a failure to comply may include loss resulting from the debtor's inability to obtain, or increased costs of, alternative financing.

(c) Except as otherwise provided in section 9-628:

(1) a person that, 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 (b) for its loss; and

(2) if the collateral is consumer goods, a person that 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.

(d) A debtor whose deficiency is eliminated under section 9-626 may recover damages for the loss of any surplus. However, a debtor or secondary obligor whose deficiency is eliminated or reduced under section 9-626 may not otherwise recover under subsection (b) for noncompliance with the provisions of this part relating to collection, enforcement, disposition, or acceptance.

(e) In addition to any damages recoverable under subsection (b), the debtor, consumer obligor, or person named as a debtor in a filed record, as applicable, may recover $500.00 in each case from:

(1) a secured party that fails to comply with section 9-208;

(2) a secured party that fails to comply with section 9-209;

(3) a person that files a record that the person is not entitled to file under section 9-509(a);

(4) a secured party that fails to cause the secured party of record to file or send a termination statement as required by section 9-513(a) or (c);

(5) a secured party that fails to comply with section 9-616(b)(1) and whose failure is part of a pattern, or consistent with a practice, of noncompliance; or

(6) a secured party that fails to comply with section 9-616(b)(2).

(f) A debtor or consumer obligor may recover damages under subsection (b) and, in addition, $500.00 in each case from a person that, without reasonable cause, fails to comply with a request under section 9-210. A recipient of a request under section 9-210 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.

(g) If a secured party fails to comply with a request regarding a list of collateral or a statement of account under Section 9-210, the secured party may claim a security interest only as shown in the list or statement included in the request as against a person that is reasonably misled by the failure. (Added 1999, No. 106 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. July 1, 2001; amended 2001, No. 46, § 10.)