---
title: O.C.G.A. § 10-1-38. Criminal and civil penalties.
collection: code
id: 10-1-38
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 10-1-38 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/10-1-38
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/10-1-38.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/10-1-38/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/joint-features-document-library/t10-(v8)-2024-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=1992b47e_0#page=75
date: 2025
status: active
corpus_version: 2025-supplement-89aa39ab3c68
license: CC0-1.0
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
up: https://georgiacommons.org/code/10-1.md
previous: https://georgiacommons.org/code/10-1-37.md
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index: https://georgiacommons.org/code/index.md
version: the only printed version
in_force: true
current_through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly
heading_path: COMMERCE AND TRADE / SELLING AND OTHER TRADE PRACTICES / MOTOR VEHICLE SALES FINANCING
---

# O.C.G.A. § 10-1-38. Criminal and civil penalties.

(a) Any person who shall willfully and intentionally violate 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 shall be punished as for a misdemeanor for each subsequent offense.

(b) A violation of Code Section 10-1-33 by the seller or holder shall bar recovery of any finance charge, delinquency, or collection charge on the contract.

(c) In case of a willful violation of this article with respect to any transaction, the buyer in such transaction may recover from the person committing the violation (or may set off or counterclaim in any action by such person) a minimum of $100.00 or double the time price differential and any delinquency charge and any attorneys’ fees and court costs charged and paid with respect to such transaction, but the seller may recover from the buyer an amount equal to the cash price of the goods or services in such transaction and the cost of any insurance purchased by the seller for the buyer in connection therewith.

(d) Notwithstanding this Code section, any failure to comply with Code Section 10-1-33 may be corrected within ten days after the date of execution of the retail installment contract by the buyer; and, if so corrected, neither the seller nor the holder is subject to any penalty under this Code section.

## History

Ga. L. 1967, p. 674, § 8.

## Law Reviews

For article, “Nonjudicial Foreclosures in Georgia Revisited,” see 24 Ga. St. B. J. 43 (1987).