Colorado § 42-6-204 - Private civil action.

§ 42-6-204. Private civil action.

(1) Any person who, with intent to defraud, violates any requirement imposed under this part 2 shall be liable in an amount equal to the sum of:

(a) Three times the amount of actual damages sustained or three thousand dollars, whichever is greater; and

(b) In the case of any successful action to enforce said liability, the costs of the action together with reasonable attorney fees as determined by the court.

(2) An action to enforce any liability created under subsection (1) of this section must be brought within the time period prescribed in section 13-80-102, C.R.S.

(3) There shall be no liability under this section if a judgment has been entered in federal court pursuant to section 409 of the "Motor Vehicle Information and Cost Savings Act", Public Law 92-513.

Source: L. 94: Entire title amended with relocations, p. 2471, § 1, effective January 1, 1995.

Editor's note: This section is similar to former § 42-6-208 as it existed prior to 1994.

Cross references: For current provisions relating to section 409 of the "Motor Vehicle Information and Cost Savings Act", see 49 U.S.C. sec. 32710.

ANNOTATION

Annotator's note. Since § 42-6-204 is similar to § 42-6-208 as it existed prior to the 1994 amending of title 42 as enacted by SB 94-1, a relevant case construing that provision has been included in the annotations to this section.

Presumption of reasonable reliance intended. The statutory language in § 42-6-205 and this section is sufficiently strong to make clear the intent of the general assembly to afford plaintiffs the benefit of the rule as to presumption of reasonable reliance. Lurvey v. Phil Long Ford, Inc., 37 Colo. App. 11, 541 P.2d 114 (1975).

Rebuttal by defendant. The presumption of reasonable reliance by plaintiff on misrepresentation as to mileage is rebuttable and should be deemed to place the burden of proof on this issue upon the defendant rather than the plaintiffs. Lurvey v. Phil Long Ford, Inc., 37 Colo. App. 11, 541 P.2d 114 (1975).