15 U.S.C. § 1681n — Civil liability for willful noncompliance

(a) In general Any person^* who willfully fails to comply with any requirement imposed under this subchapter about any consumer^* is liable to that consumer in an amount equal to the sum of—
(1) (A) any actual damages sustained by the consumer as a result of the failure or damages of not less than $100 and not more than $1,000; or (B) in the case of liability of a natural person for obtaining a consumer report^* under false pretenses or knowingly without a permissible purpose, actual damages sustained by the consumer as a result of the failure or $1,000, whichever is greater;
(2) such amount of punitive damages as the court may allow; and
(3) in the case of any successful action to enforce any liability under this section, the costs of the action together with reasonable attorney’s fees as determined by the court.

(b) Civil liability for knowing noncompliance Any person who obtains a consumer report from a consumer reporting agency^* under false pretenses or knowingly without a permissible purpose must be liable to the consumer reporting agency for actual damages sustained by the consumer reporting agency or $1,000, whichever is greater.

(c) Attorney’s fees Upon a finding by the court that an unsuccessful pleading, motion, or other paper filed in connection with an action under this section was filed in bad faith or to harassment, the court must award to the prevailing party attorney’s fees reasonable in relation to the work expended in responding to the pleading, motion, or other paper.

(d) Clarification of willful noncompliance For the purposes of this section, any person who printed an expiration date on any receipt provided to a consumer cardholder at a point of sale or transaction between December 4, 2004 , and June 3, 2008 , but otherwise complied with the requirements of section 1681c(g) of this title for such receipt must not be in willful noncompliance with section 1681c(g) of this title by reason of printing such expiration date on the receipt.