GA Code § 7-3-50 (2021)
2021 Georgia Code|Title 7 - Banking and Finance|Chapter 3 - Installment Loans|Article 5 - Regulation by Department|§ 7-3-50. Criminal Penalties; Void Loans; Civil Penalty to Borrower for Violation; Violation Not Subject of Class Action; Defense of Good Faith; Limitation on Remedies for Voidness

  Any person, including the executive officers, directors, trustees, owners, agents, and employees of such person, that willfully engages in the business of making installment loans without a license or an exemption pursuant to Code Section 7-3-4 shall be guilty of a felony and punished as provided in Code Section 7-1-845.   Any person who makes a false statement under oath in an application for a license under this chapter or who engages in the business of making installment loans while the license of such person under this chapter is suspended shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.   Any contract made under this chapter by a person guilty of a felony or misdemeanor under subsection (a) or (b) of this Code section shall be null and void.   Any installment lender who fails to comply with this chapter shall be liable to the borrower or borrowers thereon for a single penalty in an amount equal to twice the amount of all interest and loan fees charged to said borrower or borrowers on the most recent loan made by the lender to said borrower or borrowers; provided, however, that the liability under this subsection shall not be less than $100.00.   A licensee shall have no liability under subsection (d) of this Code section if, within 15 days after discovering an error or violation and prior to the institution of an action under this Code section or the receipt of written notice of the error or violation, the lender notifies the person concerned of the error or violation and makes any necessary adjustments in the appropriate account to ensure that such person will not be required to pay charges in excess of those permitted by this chapter.   A licensee shall not be liable for a violation of this chapter if the licensee shows by a preponderance of the evidence that the violation was not intentional and resulted from a bona fide clerical or typographical error, notwithstanding the maintenance of procedures reasonably adopted to avoid any such error, and makes any necessary adjustments in the appropriate account to ensure that no borrower will be required to pay charges in excess of those permitted by this chapter.   A claim of violation of this chapter against a licensee may be asserted in an individual action only and may not be the subject of a class action under Code Section 9-11-23 or any other provision of law. A claim of violation of this chapter against an unlicensed lender may be asserted in a class action under Code Section 9-11-23 or any other provision of law.   If a contract is made in good faith in conformity with an interpretation of this chapter by the appellate courts of this state or in a rule or regulation promulgated by the department, no provision in this Code section imposing any penalty shall apply, notwithstanding that, after such contract is made, such rule or regulation is amended, rescinded, or determined by judicial or other authority to be invalid for any reason.   Any installment lender who shall knowingly and willfully with intent to defraud a borrower make a contract in violation of this chapter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and the contract so made shall be null and void.     (Ga. L. 1904, p. 79, § 14; Ga. L. 1920, p. 215, §§ 13, 17, 18; Code 1933, §§ 25-217, 25-313, 25-317, 25-9902; Ga. L. 1935, p. 394, § 2; Ga. L. 1955, p. 431, § 20; Ga. L. 1978, p. 1033, § 1; Ga. L. 1980, p. 1784, §§ 1, 2; Code 1981, §7-3-29; Ga. L. 1989, p. 14, § 7; Ga. L. 2004, p. 60, § 1; Code 1981, §7-3-50, as redesignated by Ga. L. 2020, p. 156, § 2/SB 462.)    The 2020 amendment,  effective June 30, 2020, redesignated former Code Section 7-3-29 as present Code Section 7-3-50, and rewrote this Code section, which read: "(a) Any person who shall make loans under this chapter without first obtaining a license or who shall make a false statement under oath in an application for a license under this chapter or who shall do business while the license of such person under this chapter is suspended or revoked shall be guilty of a misdemeanor; and any contract made under this chapter by such person shall be null and void.   "(b) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, any duly licensed lender who fails to comply with this chapter in connection with a loan under this chapter shall be liable to the borrower or borrowers thereon for a single penalty in an amount equal to twice the amount of all interest and loan fees charged said borrower or borrowers on the most recent loan made by the lender to said borrower or borrowers; provided, however, that the liability under this subsection shall not be less than $100.00.   "(c) A lender duly licensed under this chapter has no liability under subsection (b) of this Code section if, within 15 days after discovering an error or violation and prior to the institution of an action under this Code section or the receipt of written notice of the error or violation, the lender notifies the person concerned of the error or violation and makes whatever adjustments in the appropriate account are necessary to ensure that such person will not be required to pay charges in excess of those permitted by this chapter.   "(d) A lender may not be held liable in any action brought under this Code section for a violation of this chapter if the lender shows by a preponderance of the evidence that the violation was not intentional and resulted from a bona fide clerical or typographical error notwithstanding the maintenance of procedures reasonably adopted to avoid any such error.   "(e) A claim of violation of this chapter against a duly licensed lender may be asserted in an individual action only and may not be the subject of a class action under Code Section 9-11-23 or any other provision of law. A claim of violation of this chapter against an unlicensed lender may be asserted in a class action under Code Section 9-11-23 or any other provision of law.   "(f) If a contract is made in good faith in conformity with an interpretation of this chapter by the appellate courts of this state or in a rule or regulation officially promulgated by the Commissioner after public hearings, no provision in this Code section imposing any penalty shall apply, notwithstanding that, after such contract is made, such rule or regulation is amended, rescinded, or determined by judicial or other authority to be invalid for any reason.   "(g) Any lender duly licensed under this chapter who shall knowingly and willfully with intent to defraud a borrower make a contract in violation of this chapter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and the contract so made shall be null and void.   "(h) No person may, more than one year after April 9, 1980, assert or contend offensively or defensively in any court that a contract predating April 9, 1980, is null and void or is illegal, void, invalid, or not good consideration for a renewal or refinanced contract. This subsection is a statute of repose and limitation, barring such remedies, and only such remedies, as of that date; provided, however, that after that date a borrower or borrowers on a contract predating April 9, 1980, shall be entitled to the appropriate penalty provided under subsections (a) through (g) of this Code section, but such right to said penalty shall not in any way adversely affect the validity of any renewal or refinanced contract." See Editor's notes at the beginning of this chapter for applicability.   Law reviews.   - For article surveying 1976 to 1977 developments in application of the Industrial Loan Act (now Georgia Installment Loan Act), see 29 Mercer L. Rev. 41 (1977). For article surveying Georgia cases in the area of trial practice and procedure from June 1977 through May 1978, see 30 Mercer L. Rev. 239 (1978). For article discussing methods of computation of finance charges in Georgia consumer credit contracts, see 30 Mercer L. Rev. 281 (1978). For article surveying Georgia cases in the area of commercial law from June 1979 through May 1980, see 32 Mercer L. Rev. 11 (1980). For survey article on commercial law, see 34 Mercer L. Rev. 31 (1982). For article on 2004 amendment of this Code section, see 21 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 59 (2004). For comment on Georgia Inv. Co. v. Norman, 231 Ga. 821, 204 S.E.2d 740 (1974), see 26 Mercer L. Rev. 321 (1974).   Cross references.   - Illegal payday loans, § 16-17-1 et seq.   JUDICIAL DECISIONS   ANALYSIS    General Consideration   Acceleration of Interest    RESEARCH REFERENCES   Am. Jur. 2d.   - 53A Am. Jur. 2d, Moneylenders and Pawnbrokers, § 34 et seq.   C.J.S.   - 47 C.J.S., Interest and Usury; Consumer Credit, § 460 et seq.   ALR.    - Constitutionality of statutes regulating the business of making small loans, 69 A.L.R. 581; 125 A.L.R. 743; 149 A.L.R. 1424.    Doctrine of in pari delicto as applied to borrower seeking affirmative relief from loan contract made in violation of small loan act, 142 A.L.R. 644.   Usury as affected by acceleration clause, 66 A.L.R.3d 650.   What constitutes Truth in Lending Act violation which "was not intentional and resulted from bona fide error not withstanding maintenance of procedures reasonably adapted to avoid any such error" within meaning of § 130(c) of Act (15 USCA § 1640(c)), 153 A.L.R. Fed. 193.   Validity, construction, and application of Truth in Lending Act (TILA) and regulations promulgated thereunder - United States Supreme Court cases, 67 A.L.R. Fed. 2d 567.