Section 10-1-687. Penalties; grace period for compliance

   (a) Any person who shall willfully and intentionally violate any provision of this article shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine not to exceed $500.00 for the first offense and as for a misdemeanor for each subsequent offense.

(b) In case of a violation of any provision of this article, with respect to any transaction, the lessee in such transaction may recover from the person committing the violation, or may set off or counterclaim in any action by such person, actual damages with a minimum recovery of $300.00 or 25 percent of the cost of the lease to acquire ownership, whichever is greater, attorneys' fees, and court costs. However, the lessor shall not be liable for any error in estimating the fair market value required in paragraph (12) of subsection (a) of Code Section 10-1-682 unless said estimate shall be proved to have been made in bad faith.

(c) Notwithstanding this Code section, any failure to comply with any provisions in this article may be corrected within ten days after the date of execution of the lease-purchase agreement by the lessee, and, if so corrected, neither the lessor nor any holder is subject to any penalty under this Code section.

Code 1981, § 10-1-687, enacted by Ga. L. 1985, p. 1341, § 1.