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<section article="gcl" article_name="Commercial Law" number="12-511" title_number="12" title_name="Credit Regulations" subtitle_number="5" subtitle_name="Retail Credit Accounts">
  <level label="a">
    <text>In this section, “billing error” means the initial occurrence of an error in a billing statement given to a buyer by the holder of an account, which error results from:</text>
    <level label="1">
      <text>An omission or commission by the holder in posting any debit or credit;</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>The computation of any amount; or</text>
    </level>
    <level label="3">
      <text>Any similar error of an accounting nature.</text>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="b">
    <text>The provisions of this section do not apply to a status inquiry made under § 12-510 of this subtitle if a billing error is not asserted by the buyer.</text>
  </level>
  <level label="c">
    <text>If, on receipt of a billing statement from a holder, a buyer believes the billing is in error, he may inquire as to the computation of the statement. The inquiry by the buyer shall:</text>
    <level label="1">
      <text>Be made within 60 days of receipt of the billing statement which contains the claimed error;</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>Be in writing and sent to the holder by mail at the address designated on the statement pursuant to § 12-503(i) of this subtitle; and</text>
    </level>
    <level label="3">
      <text>Set forth sufficient information to enable the holder to identify:</text>
      <level label="i">
        <text>The buyer and the account;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>The amount and transaction shown in the billing statement which the buyer in good faith believes to be a billing error; and</text>
      </level>
      <level label="iii">
        <text>The facts providing the basis for the buyer’s belief that the billing statement is in error.</text>
      </level>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="d">
    <text>On receipt of an inquiry under this section, the holder shall:</text>
    <level label="1">
      <text>Within 30 days after its receipt, mail a written acknowledgement to the buyer; and</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>Within 60 days after its receipt, before taking any action to collect the amount believed by the buyer to be a billing error:</text>
      <level label="i">
        <text>Make appropriate corrections in the account and mail to the buyer a written notice which states that the amount believed to be in error has been corrected and will be so shown on the next billing statement mailed to him; or</text>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>Send to the buyer a written notice which sets forth in a clear and definitive manner the reasons why the holder believes that the account was correctly shown in the statement.</text>
      </level>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="e">
    <text>Notwithstanding the receipt of an inquiry, the holder may:</text>
    <level label="1">
      <text>Transmit to the buyer regular periodic billing statements which include the amount believed by the buyer to be a billing error; and</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>Undertake collection of any amount which the buyer does not dispute under this section.</text>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="f">
    <text>On or before the first billing statement for a new account, the holder shall send to the buyer a written notice which describes the procedures to be followed by a buyer under this section to claim a billing error.</text>
  </level>
  <level label="g">
    <text>On receipt of an inquiry under this section, until the holder has complied with the provisions of this section, he may not communicate to any person, including any credit bureau or credit reporting agency, unfavorable credit information concerning the buyer and based on the buyer’s failure to pay the amount believed by him to be a billing error.</text>
  </level>
  <level label="h">
    <text>If a holder of an account receives a written inquiry from a buyer under this section and fails to comply with the requirements of this section, then:</text>
    <level label="1">
      <text>If the disputed amount is not a billing error, the holder:</text>
      <level label="i">
        <text>May proceed to collect the disputed amount; and</text>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>Shall forfeit the right to collect any finance charge assessed on the account in connection with the disputed amount from the date of the mailing of the written inquiry to the date the holder complies with this section; or</text>
      </level>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>If the disputed amount is a billing error, the holder:</text>
      <level label="i">
        <text>May not collect the amount of the error or any finance charge on that amount; and</text>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>Is liable to the buyer for his actual damages sustained as a result of the failure of the holder to comply with this section.</text>
      </level>
    </level>
  </level>
</section>
