Oklahoma § 59-1955 - Consumer right to damages - Enforcement - Assessment of

§ 59-1955. Consumer right to damages - Enforcement - Assessment of

cost of examination - Hearings - Application of Administrative

Procedures Act - Recovery by multiple lessees - Lessor adjustment of

error - Bona fide errors.

A. A consumer damaged by a violation of the Oklahoma RentalPurchase Act by a lessor is entitled to recover from the lessor:

1. Actual damages;

2. Twenty-five percent (25%) of an amount equal to the total

amount of payments required to obtain ownership of the merchandise

involved, except that the amount recovered under this section shall

not be less than One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) nor more than One

Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), or in the case of a class action, an

amount the court may allow, except that as to each member of the

class no minimum recovery may be applicable and the total recovery

other than for actual damages in any class action or series of class

actions arising out of the same failure to comply by the same lessor

shall not be more than the lesser of Five Hundred Thousand Dollars

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 59. Professions and Occupations

($500,000.00) or one percent (1%) of the net worth of the lessor;

and

3. Reasonable attorney fees and court costs.

B. In addition to the enforcement powers provided in Section 6102 of Title 14A of the Oklahoma Statutes, the Administrator of

Consumer Credit or a duly authorized representative of the

Administrator may investigate the books, accounts, papers,

correspondence and records of any lessor licensed under the Oklahoma

Rental-Purchase Act. For the purposes of this section, any person

who advertises for, solicits or holds himself or herself out as

willing to make rental-purchase transactions, shall be presumed to

be a rental-purchase lessor. Each lessor shall pay to the

Administrator an examination fee as prescribed by rule of the

Commission on Consumer Credit. The Administrator may require

payment of an examination fee either at the time of initial

application, renewal of the license, or after an examination has

been conducted.

C. The Administrator may promulgate rules and regulations

necessary for the enforcement of the Oklahoma Rental-Purchase Act

and consistent with all its provisions.

D. The Administrator shall appoint an independent hearing

examiner to conduct all administrative hearings involving alleged

violations of the Oklahoma Rental-Purchase Act. The independent

hearing examiner shall have authority to exercise all powers granted

by Article II of the Administrative Procedures Act in conducting

hearings. The independent hearing examiner shall have authority to

recommend penalties authorized by the Oklahoma Rental-Purchase Act

and issue proposed orders, with proposed findings of fact and

proposed conclusions of law, to the Administrator pursuant to

Article II of the Administrative Procedures Act. The Administrator

shall review the proposed order and issue a final agency order in

accordance with Article II of the Administrative Procedures Act.

Any person aggrieved by a final agency order of the Administrator

may obtain judicial review in accordance with the Administrative

Procedures Act. The jurisdiction and venue of any such action shall

be in the district court of Oklahoma County or the county of the

aggrieved. Hearing costs may be assessed against the respondent,

unless the respondent is the prevailing party.

E. After notice and hearing, the Administrator may decline to

renew a license, or suspend or revoke any license issued pursuant to

the Oklahoma Rental-Purchase Act for violating any provision of the

Oklahoma Rental-Purchase Act or any rules promulgated by the

Administrator, or in lieu of or in addition to such denial,

suspension or revocation, order the refund of any unlawful or

excessive fees, enter a cease and desist order or impose an

administrative fine in an amount not less than One Hundred Dollars

($100.00) nor more than Two Thousand Five Hundred Dollars

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 59. Professions and Occupations

($2,500.00) for each violation of the Oklahoma Rental-Purchase Act,

not to exceed Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00) for all violations

of a lessor.

F. Except as otherwise expressly provided in the Oklahoma

Rental-Purchase Act, the Administrative Procedures Act, Sections

250.3 through 323 of Title 75 of the Oklahoma Statutes, applies to

and governs all administrative actions and civil proceedings taken

by the Administrator pursuant to the Oklahoma Rental-Purchase Act.

G. Where there are multiple lessees to a rental-purchase

agreement, there shall be no more than one recovery under the

Oklahoma Rental-Purchase Act for a violation.

H. A lessor is not liable under the Oklahoma Rental-Purchase

Act for a violation thereof caused by the lessor's error if before

the sixtieth day after the date the lessor discovers the error, and

before an action under this section is filed or written notice of

the error is received by the lessor from the lessee, the lessor

gives the lessee written notice of the error and makes adjustments

in the lessee's account as necessary to ensure that the lessee will

not be required to pay an amount in excess of the amount disclosed

and that the agreement otherwise complies with this subsection. Nor

may a lessor be held liable in any action brought under the Oklahoma

Rental-Purchase Act for a violation of the Oklahoma Rental-Purchase

Act if the lessor shows by a preponderance of the evidence that the

violation was not intentional and resulted from a bona fide error

notwithstanding the maintenance of procedures reasonably adopted to

avoid the error. A bona fide error includes, but is not limited to,

a clerical, calculation, computer malfunction in programming, and

printing error, but not an error of legal judgment with respect to a

lessor's disclosure obligations under the Oklahoma Rental-Purchase

Act.

I. Any entity or individual offering to engage or engaged as a

rental-purchase lessor in this state without a license shall be

subject to an administrative fine not to exceed Five Thousand

Dollars ($5,000.00).

J. The Administrator may impose an administrative fine as

prescribed in subsection I of this section, after notice and hearing

in accordance with Article II of the Administrative Procedures Act.

Any administrative order or settlement agreement may be enforced in

the same manner as civil judgments in this state. The Administrator

may file an application to enforce an administrative order or

settlement agreement in the district court of Oklahoma County or the

county of the aggrieved.

Added by Laws 1988, c. 106, § 6, eff. Nov. 1, 1988. Amended by Laws

2010, c. 415, § 22, eff. July 1, 2010; Laws 2016, c. 278, § 3, eff.

Nov. 1, 2016; Laws 2017, c. 241, § 3, eff. Nov. 1, 2017.