12 U.S.C. § 4010 — Civil liability

(a) Civil liability. Unless this section provides otherwise, a depository institution^* that fails to comply with a requirement of this chapter or its regulations, as to a person^* other than another depository institution, owes that person: (1) actual damage caused by the failure; (2)(A) in an individual action, any additional amount the court allows, between $100 and $1,000; or (B) in a class action, an amount the court allows, with no minimum recovery for each class member and with total recovery for the same failure by the same institution capped at the lesser of $500,000 or 1 percent of the institution’s net worth; and (3) in a successful enforcement action, litigation costs and a reasonable attorney fee set by the court.

(b) Class action awards. The court must consider the actual damages awarded, how often and how persistently compliance failed, the institution’s resources, the number of people harmed, and how intentional the failure was, among other relevant factors.

(c) Bona fide errors. (1) An institution is not liable if it proves by a preponderance of the evidence that the violation was unintentional and resulted from a bona fide error, even though it maintained procedures reasonably designed to prevent the error. (2) Examples include clerical, calculation, computer malfunction or programming, and printing errors. A mistake about the legal meaning of the institution’s obligation is not a bona fide error.

(d) Jurisdiction. An action may be brought in a United States^* district court or another court with jurisdiction within one year after the violation occurred.

(e) Reliance on Board^* rulings. Liability does not apply to an act or omission done in good faith and in conformity with a Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System rule, regulation, or interpretation, even if that rule, regulation, or interpretation is later changed, withdrawn, or held invalid.

(f) Authority to establish rules regarding losses and liability among depository institutions. The Board may impose or allocate among depository institutions the risks of loss and liability connected with any part of the check^* payment system, including receiving, paying, collecting, clearing, and related functions. Liability may not exceed the check amount causing the loss or liability, plus, when there is bad faith, other damages proximately caused by the act or omission.