Question: Does the 1995 amendment to the Truth In Lending Act lift the $1000 cap for statutory damages for TILA violations involving loans secured by personal (not real) property?
Answer: No, the Court answered in a rare 9-0 decision. So, for now, the cap remains in place.
Mostly based on its close reading of the amendment, the Court concluded that while Congress intended to raise the maximum statutory damages for TILA violations on loans secured by real property, it did not intend to increase the $1000 cap regarding loans secured by personal property. In parsing the statute, the Court noted that Congress ordinarily adheres to an “hierarchical scheme in subdividing statutory sections” and that, in the hierarchy, a “subparagraph” is quite different from a “clause.”
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