§476-21  Failure to comply; remedy of buyer;
penalty.  In case of failure of the seller or holder to comply with the
requirements of sections 476-3, 476-5 to 476-9, 476-11, 476-13, 476-19, 476-20
(if the buyer does not exercise the right to cancel the contract), 476-22 to
476-24, and 476-28 the buyer has the right to recover from the seller or
holder, as the case may be, an amount equal to the finance charge or ten per
cent of the cash price if no finance charge is specified in the contract or
supplementary statement, and the seller is barred from recovery of any finance
charge, late, or collection charge or refinancing charge on the credit sale
contract involved.



Notwithstanding this section, the failure to
comply with any provisions of this chapter may be corrected by the seller at
any time after the execution of the credit sale contract, and before the
institution of an action under this chapter or the seller is notified thereof
in writing by the buyer, and if so corrected, neither the seller nor the holder
is subject to any penalty under this or any other section of this chapter.



A seller or assignee may not be held liable in
any action brought under this section if the seller or assignee shows by a
preponderance of evidence that the failure to comply was not intentional and
resulted from a bona fide error notwithstanding the maintenance of procedures
reasonably adapted to avoid any such error.



In any successful action under this section the
buyer shall be entitled to the costs of the action, together with a reasonable
attorney's fee as determined by court. [L 1961, c 102, pt of §1; Supp,
§201A-18; HRS §476-19; am and ren L 1984, c 86, pt of §1]



 



Case Notes



 



  Abuse of discretion in awarding fees.  4 H. App. 57, 659 P.2d
752.



  Attorneys' fees not limited by §607-14.  4 H. App. 57, 659
P.2d 752.