ENROLLED
Senate Bill No. 36
(By Senators Anderson, Claypole, Dittmar,
Grubb, Holliday, Macnaughtan, Miller,
Plymale, Ross, Wagner, Wiedebusch, Wooton and Yoder)
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[Passed March 10, 1994; in effect ninety days from passage.]
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AN ACT to amend article two, chapter forty-six-a of the code of
West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section
one hundred twenty-nine-a; and to amend article five of said
chapter by adding thereto three new sections, designated
sections one hundred four, one hundred five and one hundred
six, all relating to consumer credit protection; prohibiting
use of deception in telephone collection activities;
awarding attorney fees, court costs and fees in certain
claims; additional penalties for certain willful violations;
and providing for the adjustment of damages according to the
consumer price index.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article two, chapter forty-six-a of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section one
hundred twenty-nine-a; and that article five of said chapter beamended by adding thereto three new sections, designated section
one hundred four, one hundred five and one hundred six, all to
read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. CONSUMER CREDIT PROTECTION.
§46A-2-129a. Deceptive or oppressive telephone calls.
No debt collector shall place a telephone call or otherwise
communicate by telephone with a consumer or third party, at any
place, including a place of employment, falsely stating that the
call is "urgent" or an "emergency".
ARTICLE 5. CIVIL LIABILITY AND CRIMINAL PENALTIES.
§46A-5-104. Attorney fees.
In any claim brought under this chapter applying to illegal,
fraudulent or unconscionable conduct or any prohibited debt
collection practice, the court may award all or a portion of the
costs of litigation, including reasonable attorney fees, court
costs and fees, to the consumer. On a finding by the court that
a claim brought under this chapter applying to illegal,
fraudulent or unconscionable conduct or any prohibited debt
collection practice was brought in bad faith and for the purposes
of harassment, the court may award to the defendant reasonable
attorney fees.
§46A-5-105. Willful violations.
If a creditor has willfully violated the provisions of this
chapter applying to illegal, fraudulent or unconscionable conduct
or any prohibited debt collection practice, in addition to the
remedy provided in section one hundred one of this article, thecourt may cancel the debt when the debt is not secured by a
security interest.
§46A-5-106. Adjustment of damages for inflation.
In any claim brought under this chapter applying to illegal,
fraudulent or unconscionable conduct or any prohibited debt
collection practice, the court may adjust the damages awarded
pursuant to section one hundred one of this article to account
for inflation from the time that the West Virginia consumer
credit and protection act became operative, specifically 12:01
a.m. on the first day of September, one thousand nine hundred
seventy-four, to the time of the award of damages in an amount
equal to the consumer price index. Consumer price index means
the last consumer price index for all consumers published by the
United States department of labor.
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