15 U.S.C. § 1693g : US Code - Section 1693G: Consumer liability

Search 15 U.S.C. § 1693g : US Code - Section 1693G: Consumer liability

(a) Unauthorized electronic fund transfers; limit
A consumer shall be liable for any unauthorized electronic fund
transfer involving the account of such consumer only if the card or
other means of access utilized for such transfer was an accepted
card or other meanas (!1) of access and if the issuer of such card,
code, or other means of access has provided a means whereby the
user of such card, code, or other means of access can be identified
as the person authorized to use it, such as by signature,
photograph, or fingerprint or by electronic or mechanical
confirmation. In no event, however, shall a consumer's liability
for an unauthorized transfer exceed the lesser of -
(1) $50; or
(2) the amount of money or value of property or services
obtained in such unauthorized electronic fund transfer prior to
the time the financial institution is notified of, or otherwise
becomes aware of, circumstances which lead to the reasonable
belief that an unauthorized electronic fund transfer involving
the consumer's account has been or may be effected. Notice under
this paragraph is sufficient when such steps have been taken as
may be reasonably required in the ordinary course of business to
provide the financial institution with the pertinent information,
whether or not any particular officer, employee, or agent of the
financial institution does in fact receive such information.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, reimbursement need not be made to
the consumer for losses the financial institution establishes would
not have occurred but for the failure of the consumer to report
within sixty days of transmittal of the statement (or in
extenuating circumstances such as extended travel or
hospitalization, within a reasonable time under the circumstances)
any unauthorized electronic fund transfer or account error which
appears on the periodic statement provided to the consumer under
section 1693d of this title. In addition, reimbursement need not be
made to the consumer for losses which the financial institution
establishes would not have occurred but for the failure of the
consumer to report any loss or theft of a card or other means of
access within two business days after the consumer learns of the
loss or theft (or in extenuating circumstances such as extended
travel or hospitalization, within a longer period which is
reasonable under the circumstances), but the consumer's liability
under this subsection in any such case may not exceed a total of
$500, or the amount of unauthorized electronic fund transfers which
occur following the close of two business days (or such longer
period) after the consumer learns of the loss or theft but prior to
notice to the financial institution under this subsection,
whichever is less.
(b) Burden of proof
In any action which involves a consumer's liability for an
unauthorized electronic fund transfer, the burden of proof is upon
the financial institution to show that the electronic fund transfer
was authorized or, if the electronic fund transfer was
unauthorized, then the burden of proof is upon the financial
institution to establish that the conditions of liability set forth
in subsection (a) of this section have been met, and, if the
transfer was initiated after the effective date of section 1693c of
this title, that the disclosures required to be made to the
consumer under section 1693c(a)(1) and (2) of this title were in
fact made in accordance with such section.
(c) Determination of limitation on liability
In the event of a transaction which involves both an unauthorized
electronic fund transfer and an extension of credit as defined in
section 1602(e) of this title pursuant to an agreement between the
consumer and the financial institution to extend such credit to the
consumer in the event the consumer's account is overdrawn, the
limitation on the consumer's liability for such transaction shall
be determined solely in accordance with this section.
(d) Restriction on liability
Nothing in this section imposes liability upon a consumer for an
unauthorized electronic fund transfer in excess of his liability
for such a transfer under other applicable law or under any
agreement with the consumer's financial institution.
(e) Scope of liability
Except as provided in this section, a consumer incurs no
liability from an unauthorized electronic fund transfer.